Ranchers say that the shepherds are paid much more than they would be making in their native countries, an argument that rankles those fighting for improved conditions. "When someone comes to this country, we don't take their native country into consideration in how we treat them or pay them," Schneider said.
There is no denying that the shepherds live primitively. Visits to shepherds in Fresno and Kern counties -- where finding just four herders took two days because of their remote locations -- found them in very old, dilapidated trailers, full of flies and mosquitoes. One shepherd had a plastic water barrel that was clearly full of fungi and smelled of rotted meat. One was spending a 113-degree afternoon in his 110-degree trailer, waiting for the sun to set so he could spend several hours putting up temporary fences to contain his sheep. All their dogs stayed in holes they had dug under the trailers to avoid the blistering heat.
The shepherd found in the Mojave Desert, the most remote location of any shepherd interviewed, will be moved in October during what is called the lambing season, to farmland outside of Bakersfield.
He said he looked forward to it, despite the backbreaking 13-hour days of caring for newborn lambs and their mothers, because then he has greater contact with the outside world. Two or three shepherds work together and occasionally go to stores to get supplies for the sheep.
"I get depressed here very often," he said.
But he also considers himself fortunate. Once a week, a kindly man he met when he was stationed near Bakersfield during the six-month lambing season brings him a newspaper. And his employer comes to check on him every other day. Many shepherds do not see their bosses for a week or two, when they bring supplies. A few weeks ago, his employer replaced the shabby 2m by 2.5m wooden trailer he was living in with a newer, 2m by 4m one that has seating besides a bed.
And while he has never seen a movie, eaten at a restaurant, attended a church service or even spent a free hour walking around the one city in the US he has glimpsed, Bakersfield, he said he would renew his contract and do the work for another three years.
"My sons are 11 and 12 and I want the best for them," he said. "That's what I keep remembering all the time while I'm here."
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