Game Farm, CWD Concerns Rise at Boone and Crockett Club
Game Farm, CWD Concerns Rise at Boone and Crockett Club
Friday, March 28, 2014 Concerned about captive deer operations transmitting
diseases to wild herds, the Boone and Crockett Club now officially supports
state bans on commercial import and export of deer or elk.
The Club also opposes efforts to relax regulation of captive cervid
breeding operations or to remove management authority over such operations from
state wildlife agencies.
A full position statement, posted here, was passed at the Club’s December
meeting.
The Club’s concerns were reinforced at the recent Whitetail Summit hosted
by the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA), the first summit to focus on
key issues and challenges facing free-ranging white-tailed deer.
“Of all the presentations, seminars and findings, I was most pleased to see
the attention given to the connections between chronic wasting disease (CWD) and
the game farming industry. This has been on our radar, and on the radar of QDMA,
other conservation groups, state agencies and sportsmen for quite some time,”
said Richard Hale, chairman of the Club’s Records Committee.
Hale added, “Congratulations to QDMA on one of the most impressive and
well-run summits I’ve had the pleasure of attending and for keeping this issue
front and center.”
CWD is a degenerative brain disease that affects elk, mule deer,
white-tailed deer, and moose. The disease can be transmitted by direct
animal-to-animal contact through saliva, feces and urine, and indirectly through
environmental contamination. CWD is fatal in deer, elk and moose, but there is
no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans, according to the CDC and The
World Health Organization.
Documented cases of CWD have been found in captive and/or wild deer and elk
in 22 states and two Canadian provinces. In some, but not all, cases where the
disease has been found in wild populations, the disease is present in captive
populations within these regions.
In 2002, the Boone and Crockett Club, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the
Mule Deer Foundation formed the CWD Alliance. Its purpose was to pool resources,
share information and collaborate on ways to positively address the CWD issue.
Other organizations have since joined the Alliance, including QDMA and the
Wildlife Management Institute, which now administers the Alliance website
www.cwd-info.org.
“Evidence strongly suggests that captive animals infected with CWD can
serve as the source for the spread of the disease to other captive animals, and
between captive animals and wild populations,” said Hale. “To reduce the risk to
wild deer populations, several states passed laws prohibiting game farming or
live captive deer and elk importation, but now they are fighting efforts to
expand captive deer and elk breeding and shooting operations within their
jurisdictions. The captive cervid industry is persistent in proposing new
legislations to overturn these laws, or transfer the authority of captive deer
and elk from state fish and game agencies to their respective departments of
agriculture.”
No vaccine or treatment is available for animals infected with CWD and once
established in a population, culling or complete depopulation to eradicate CWD
has provided only marginal results. In fact, the prevalence of CWD is rising at
an alarming rate in some infected wild deer populations. Prevention is the only
truly effective technique for managing diseases in free-ranging wildlife
populations. Consequently, what can be done is minimizing the spread of CWD by
restricting intra- and interstate transportation captive, privately owned
wildlife, which frequently occurs in game farming.
boone and crockett club position statement
REGULATION OF GAME FARMS First Adopted December 7, 2013 - Updated December
7, 2013
Situational Overview
The captive cervid industry, also referred to as game farming, uses
artificial means to breed captive deer, elk, and other cervids for sale in
shooting preserve operations. These game farms commonly transport captive deer
and elk to other shooting preserves in a state or in other states.
Transportation of captive, game farm animals has been shown to increase the
risk of spreading parasites and infectious, diseases, such as chronic wasting
disease (CWD) and bovine tuberculosis, to other captive and wild cervids in new
locations. There is currently no way of testing live animals for CWD, and
infected animals show no signs for at least 16-18 months post-infection. There
is no vaccine, and despite fenced enclosures, captive animals often come in
contact with wild populations thereby spreading diseases. Once CWD is present,
the area cannot be decontaminated even if infected animals are removed. As a
result, many states have banned or are attempting to ban the importation of
captive cervids (as well as intact carcasses of hunter-killed, wild cervids) to
lower the risk of spreading CWD and other infectious diseases.
Position
The Boone and Crockett Club supports state bans on importing or exporting
captive deer and elk by game farming operations in order to protect the health
of native populations. The Club opposes any legislation aimed at relaxing
regulations governing captive cervid breeding operations or removing management
authority over such operations from state wildlife agencies. The Club does not
oppose the transportation of wild cervids by state agencies and non-governmental
organizations for the purpose of re-establishing wild game animals to their
historic, open ranges.
The breeding of captive deer, elk, and other cervids for profit to create
abnormally large “trophy” animals for fenced shoots under non-fair chase
conditions are addressed in the Boone and Crockett Club’s positions on “Genetic
Manipulation of Game” and “Canned Shoots.”
BUCK FEVER
What can happen if preserve owners make the rules
Damning investigation by Mr. Sabalow et al @ IndyStar, that shows what we
have known for decades about, an industry run amuck, an industry that will
eventually self regulate itself, if they get their way, an industry that in my
opinion, has been spreading cwd to hell and back for decades, i.e. the shooting
pen industry. ...tss
BUCK FEVER
What can happen if preserve owners make the rules
What can happen if preserve owners make the rules
At one Indiana high-fence operation, deer — some ill or appearing drugged —
were hunted in what prosecutors called 'killing pens.' Today, laws like those
that sent the owner to prison are under assault in many states.
Ryan Sabalow, ryan.sabalow@indystar.com
"I think the DNR was so jealous 'cause I was selling deer for hundreds of
thousands of dollars, and it would take 10 years for them to make what I was
making in one day." — Russ Bellar
Buck Fever
Chapter 4
The nation's deer farmers are aggressively lobbying for regulatory changes
that would benefit their industry. One Indiana case serves as a warning of what
could happen if the industry is allowed to set its own rules. Robert Scheer/The
Star
PERU, Ind. – For seven days in January 2005, a jury in a federal courtroom
heard tales from a now-notorious Indiana hunting preserve of deer being drugged
and even a sick deer propped up in a 1-acre pen so a hunter could shoot a
$15,000 trophy.
Jurors heard testimony from an outdoor television celebrity, a corporate
CEO, a country music star and an ex-NFL quarterback, some of whom paid
substantial sums to shoot deer in enclosures so small that prosecutors dubbed
them "killing pens." One shot his deer only minutes after it was released from a
trailer. ...
snip...see full text, videos of interviews and such ;
Overview: Trophy industry breeds risk disease, costs taxpayers
millions
The pursuit of deer bred for enormous antlers and shot in hunting pens is
compromising our ethics and laws, and comes with growing risk and costs. http://www.indystar.com/longform/news/investigations/2014/03/27/buck-fever-intro/6865031/
Chapter 1: A troubling industry is born
Amish farmer unwittingly helped give rise to a booming new business — and
ethical and legal quandaries.
"I am the king behind my fence. These are my deer." — Marty Berry, Texas
deer breeder
Chapter 3: How fair is the chase?
Chapter 4: What can happen if preserve owners make the rules
Is the rack worth the risk?
The search for the source of a deadly disease often leads to deer farms.
The interstate movement of deer has been linked to the spread of disease.
What are we risking for trophies? Robert Scheer/The Star
SEYMOUR, Ind. – In April 2012, a tree fell on a fence in Southern Indiana
and 20 white-tailed deer bounded through the gap, their tails raised like stark
white flags.
One of the deer in the pen had been shipped from a Pennsylvania herd where
two deer tested positive for chronic wasting disease, a neurological disorder
that's always fatal to deer and elk and has been found in 22 states — but never
in Indiana.
Not yet, anyway.
That buck — which state officials call Yellow 47, for the color and number
of the tag in his ear — has never been found. And because there is no reliable
way to test for the disease until an animal dies, no one knows whether Yellow 47
had CWD when he arrived in Indiana, or whether he could be spreading it to his
wild brethren today. ...
BUCK FEVER
A MUST READ !!!
BUCK FEVER
Saturday, June 29, 2013
PENNSYLVANIA CAPTIVE CWD INDEX HERD MATE YELLOW *47 STILL RUNNING LOOSE IN
INDIANA, YELLOW NUMBER 2 STILL MISSING, AND OTHERS ON THE RUN STILL IN LOUISIANA
Monday, June 24, 2013
The Effects of Chronic Wasting Disease on the Pennsylvania Cervid Industry
Following its Discovery
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
CWD GONE WILD, More cervid escapees from more shooting pens on the loose in
Pennsylvania
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Chronic Wasting Disease CWD quarantine Louisiana via CWD index herd
Pennsylvania Update May 28, 2013
6 doe from Pennsylvania CWD index herd still on the loose in Louisiana,
quarantine began on October 18, 2012, still ongoing, Lake Charles premises.
*** Spraker suggested an interesting explanation for the occurrence of CWD.
The deer pens at the Foot Hills Campus were built some 30-40 years ago by a Dr.
Bob Davis. At or abut that time, allegedly, some scrapie work was conducted at
this site. When deer were introduced to the pens they occupied ground that had
previously been occupied by sheep. ...
also, see where even decades back, the USDA had the same thought as they do
today with CWD, not their problem...see page 27 below as well, where USDA stated
back then, the same thing they stated in the state of Pennsylvania, not their
damn business, once they escape, and they said the same thing about CWD in
general back then ;
”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations
in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the
respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as
a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific
research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and
consequently not their province!” ...page 26.
”The occurrence of CWD must be viewed against the contest of the locations
in which it occurred. It was an incidental and unwelcome complication of the
respective wildlife research programmes. Despite it’s subsequent recognition as
a new disease of cervids, therefore justifying direct investigation, no specific
research funding was forthcoming. The USDA veiwed it as a wildlife problem and
consequently not their province!” ...page 26.
sound familiar $$$
Sunday, January 06, 2013
USDA TO PGC ONCE CAPTIVES ESCAPE
*** "it‘s no longer its business.”
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
*** cwd - cervid captive livestock escapes, loose and on the run in the
wild
how many states have $465,000., and can quarantine and purchase there from,
each cwd said infected farm, but how many states can afford this for all the cwd
infected cervid game ranch type farms ???
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm
Update DECEMBER 2011
The CWD infection rate was nearly 80%, the highest ever in a North American
captive herd.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board approve the purchase of 80 acres of land for
$465,000 for the Statewide Wildlife Habitat Program in Portage County and
approve the restrictions on public use of the site.
SUMMARY:
Friday, March 07, 2014
37th Annual Southeast Deer Study Group Meeting in Athens, Georgia (CWD TSE
Prion abstracts)
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin White-Tailed Deer:
Implications for Disease Spread and Management
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Potential role of soil properties in the spread of CWD in western Canada
Thursday, March 20, 2014
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD TSE PRION OF CERVID AND THE POTENTIAL FOR HUMAN
TRANSMISSION THEREFROM 2014
Friday, November 09, 2012
*** Chronic Wasting Disease CWD in cervidae and transmission to other
species
Sunday, November 11, 2012
*** Susceptibilities of Nonhuman Primates to Chronic Wasting Disease
November 2012
Friday, December 14, 2012
Susceptibility Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in wild cervids to Humans 2005
- December 14, 2012
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Chronic Wasting Disease in Bank Voles: Characterisation of the Shortest
Incubation Time Model for Prion Diseases
Thursday, January 2, 2014
*** CWD TSE Prion in cervids to hTGmice, Heidenhain Variant
Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease MM1 genotype, and iatrogenic CJD ??? ***
how many states have $465,000., and can quarantine and purchase there from,
each cwd said infected farm, but how many states can afford this for all the cwd
infected cervid game ranch type farms ???
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE CWD WISCONSIN Almond Deer (Buckhorn Flats) Farm
Update DECEMBER 2011
The CWD infection rate was nearly 80%, the highest ever in a North American
captive herd.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board approve the purchase of 80 acres of land for
$465,000 for the Statewide Wildlife Habitat Program in Portage County and
approve the restrictions on public use of the site.
SUMMARY:
OLD HISTORY ON CWD AND GAME FARMS IN USA
THE LANCET Infectious Diseases Vol 3 August 2003
Tracking spongiform encephalopathies in North America
http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473309903007151.pdf?id=baa1CkXPkhI3Ih_Vlh6ru
Friday, December 14, 2012
DEFRA U.K. What is the risk of Chronic Wasting Disease CWD being introduced
into Great Britain? A Qualitative Risk Assessment October 2012
snip...
In the USA, under the Food and Drug Administration’s BSE Feed Regulation
(21 CFR 589.2000) most material (exceptions include milk, tallow, and gelatin)
from deer and elk is prohibited for use in feed for ruminant animals. With
regards to feed for non-ruminant animals, under FDA law, CWD positive deer may
not be used for any animal feed or feed ingredients. For elk and deer considered
at high risk for CWD, the FDA recommends that these animals do not enter the
animal feed system. However, this recommendation is guidance and not a
requirement by law.
Animals considered at high risk for CWD include:
1) animals from areas declared to be endemic for CWD and/or to be CWD
eradication zones and
2) deer and elk that at some time during the 60-month period prior to
slaughter were in a captive herd that contained a CWD-positive animal.
Therefore, in the USA, materials from cervids other than CWD positive
animals may be used in animal feed and feed ingredients for non-ruminants.
The amount of animal PAP that is of deer and/or elk origin imported from
the USA to GB can not be determined, however, as it is not specified in TRACES.
It may constitute a small percentage of the 8412 kilos of non-fish origin
processed animal proteins that were imported from US into GB in 2011.
Overall, therefore, it is considered there is a __greater than negligible
risk___ that (nonruminant) animal feed and pet food containing deer and/or elk
protein is imported into GB.
There is uncertainty associated with this estimate given the lack of data
on the amount of deer and/or elk protein possibly being imported in these
products.
snip...
36% in 2007 (Almberg et al., 2011). In such areas, population declines of
deer of up to 30 to 50% have been observed (Almberg et al., 2011). In areas of
Colorado, the prevalence can be as high as 30% (EFSA, 2011).
The clinical signs of CWD in affected adults are weight loss and
behavioural changes that can span weeks or months (Williams, 2005). In addition,
signs might include excessive salivation, behavioural alterations including a
fixed stare and changes in interaction with other animals in the herd, and an
altered stance (Williams, 2005). These signs are indistinguishable from cervids
experimentally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Given this, if CWD was to be introduced into countries with BSE such as GB,
for example, infected deer populations would need to be tested to differentiate
if they were infected with CWD or BSE to minimise the risk of BSE entering the
human food-chain via affected venison.
snip...
The rate of transmission of CWD has been reported to be as high as 30% and
can approach 100% among captive animals in endemic areas (Safar et al., 2008).
snip...
In summary, in endemic areas, there is a medium probability that the soil
and surrounding environment is contaminated with CWD prions and in a
bioavailable form. In rural areas where CWD has not been reported and deer are
present, there is a greater than negligible risk the soil is contaminated with
CWD prion.
snip...
In summary, given the volume of tourists, hunters and servicemen moving
between GB and North America, the probability of at least one person travelling
to/from a CWD affected area and, in doing so, contaminating their clothing,
footwear and/or equipment prior to arriving in GB is greater than negligible.
For deer hunters, specifically, the risk is likely to be greater given the
increased contact with deer and their environment. However, there is significant
uncertainty associated with these estimates.
snip...
Therefore, it is considered that farmed and park deer may have a higher
probability of exposure to CWD transferred to the environment than wild deer
given the restricted habitat range and higher frequency of contact with tourists
and returning GB residents.
snip...
Singeltary submission ;
Program Standards: Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program and
Interstate Movement of Farmed or Captive Deer, Elk, and Moose
*** DOCUMENT ID: APHIS-2006-0118-0411
Friday, March 28, 2014
BUCK FEVER What can happen if preserve owners make the rules
BUCK FEVER
TSS
posted by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. at
11:10 AM
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