
Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture
2301 N. Cameron St.
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408
General Information
717-787-4737
Bureau of
Animal Health
Director: Dr. Craig Schultz
717-772-2852
Mary Martin 717-783-5309
UPDATES AND REMINDERS FROM
THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT
OF AGRICULTURE 11/22/10
The Department would
like to remind you of
certain requirements
regarding the Chronic
Wasting Disease (CWD)
program and update you on
certain changes to the
program.
Current:
Under the current Quarantine
Order, Herd Certification
Program (HCP)
participants who fail to
meet the requirements of the
program may be issued
citations or civil
penalties.
Proposed:
Once the new Quarantine
Order goes into effect, the
herds not in compliance may
also lose status in the CWD
program (see paragraph
below from the proposed new
order).
Changes of program for
enrolled herds. Herds
enrolled in the CWD Herd
Certification Program that
fail to meet the program
requirements for mandatory
testing (paragraph 8(d)),
identification of subject
animals (paragraph 8(g)),
ongoing record-keeping
requirement (paragraph
8(h)), or any other
aspect of the HCP Program
may be removed from
enrollment in the HCP
program and may be enrolled
in a level of the CWD Herd
Monitored Program as
determined by the
Department.
You can lose status
now by not being in
compliance with the program
requirements with your
status being lowered in the
HCP. There have been several
herds that status has been
dropped. You should be very
careful when purchasing your
deer. You can call Mary
Martin to check on the
status.
Intrastate transportation of
live cervids
Current:
Under the current Order,
Herd Monitored Program (HMP)
participants may only
transport live cervids to a
shooting preserve or
slaughter facility after the
herd has tested at least 30
animals for CWD and found
them all to be negative.
Proposed:
We have changed our stance
on this and have written
into the new order that live
cervids may be transported
intrastate to a shooting
preserve or slaughter
facility without having to
meet the CWD testing
requirement. The new Order
is not legally binding at
this time since it has not
yet been published in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin but
the Department will allow
the above mentioned
movements while the Order
becomes official. Please
remember the requirement to
have these animals
officially identified prior
to transport and to include
in your inventory when the
animal left, the ID of the
Cervid and where it went.
Also, if you are
enrolled in the HCP program
and cannot meet the
identification requirements,
you may choose to switch to
the HMP by filling out a new
CWD application.
Escapes
We would like to remind all
of the CWD program
participants that any
captive cervids which escape
or are removed from a herd,
or any wild CWD-susceptible
cervids which gain entrance
into a captive herd must be
reported to the Department
immediately.
If the escaped cervid is
returned into a HCP herd
within one week of the
escape, there will be no
change in status of the
herd. If the cervid is out
for more than a week and put
back into the HCP herd, the
status of the herd will go
to first year and the
anniversary date will become
the date the cervid was
returned to the HCP herd.
You should also contact your
local PA Game Commision
office to report the escape
to them and avoid a possible
fine.
One other option to consider
if the cervid is not
captured within one week
would be to place the deer
into a separate herd and
start another herd with
first year status thus
maintaining the status of
the existing herd.
We appreciate the efforts of
all the deer farmers that
have taken the time to learn
the responsibilities of the
CWD program and getting
their herds in compliance
(having official id, testing
for CWD, annual inventory
submitted, prompt reporting
of escapes and untestables).
The department has made
every effort to notify
owners of cervids to contact
us in the event of escapes
or untestables, therefore,
status will be lowered to
the date of the occurrence
for future escapes/untestables
that are not reported
immediately.
Reporting death losses
The Department would also
like to remind all cervid
farmers that any time they
discover a dead captive
cervid that qualifies as an
animal that should be tested
for CWD they need to contact
their regional veterinarian
immediately so that we can
decide if that cervid is
testable.
Reporting fawns
Please put your fawn
additions on the inventory
sheets the year they are
born that you submit your
annual report. For example,
if your inventory is due
November 2009, the 09 fawns
must be on it. If your
inventory is due March 2010,
the 09 fawns should be on
it. A lot of times,
inventory reports do not
show the fawns until the
following year. This is
unacceptable due to the fact
that when they are sold, the
person may submit their
inventory before you do. All
fawns must be included, even
if the fawn is given away
and not sold.
Premise Identification
Please note the
premise identification
number next to the name of
the person you are buying or
selling your animals to.
This will be helpful in
making sure the animals get
placed in the right
inventory.
Official Identification
The deadline for HCP
participants to have their
animals identified with two
forms of identification (one
official and a farm tag that
is unique and individual to
the animal and herd or two
official) was June 1,
2009. There are still herds
that are not in compliance.
These herds will be notified
of the date their status
will be lowered due to non
compliance. As a reminder,
you can switch to HMP if you
cannot meet this requirement
IF you do not move your
animals anywhere but to a
preserve or slaughter
facility.
Thank you for working
with the Department of
Agriculture to maintain a
nationally respected CWD
surveillance program in
captive cervids within the
Commonwealth.