State wildlife officials want tough new regulations placed on deer farms to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), according to a report filed today with the Legislature.
The recommendations stem from inspections of 50 deer farms toward the end of last year. According to the report, inspectors found 17 violations of rules designed to keep CWD from spreading inside farms and outward, to wild deer. Ten of the farms had inadequate fencing, a barrier described in the report as "the last line of defense in keeping farmed deer secure inside the enclosure and keeping wild deer out.''
The report was mandated by lawmakers last summer when the Legislature assigned the Department of Natural Resources to begin joint oversight of captive deer operations along with the Board of Animal Health. A state audit of the board in 2018 found the agency to be cozy with deer farmers and lax in its enforcement of the industry.
