Investigation finds that breeding deer for private reserves is spreading disease to livestock

A billion-dollar industry primarily devoted to breeding deer and elk that are shipped to private reserves, where the rich pay thousands of dollars to hunt the animals, is costing taxpayers millions of dollars and spreading disease to livestock, Ryan Sabalow reports for The Indianapolis Star. (Star photo by Robert Scheer: Bucks in a pen at a deer-breeding operation near Bremen, Ind.)

An investigation by the Star, which produced a four-part series, "found that captive-deer facilities have spread tuberculosis to cattle and are suspected in the spread of deadly foreign deer lice in the West," Sabalow writes. "More important, The Star's investigation uncovered compelling circumstantial evidence that the industry also has helped accelerate the spread of chronic wasting disease, an always-fatal deer disease similar to mad cow. CWD now has been found in 22 states."

"CWD's spread roughly coincides with the captive-deer industry's growth," Sabalow writes. "In half of the states where CWD was found, it first appeared in a commercial deer operation. Officials in Missouri, Nebraska, New York and Canada think captive deer or elk introduced the disease to the wild."

Because there's no reliable way to test for CWD, infected deer can be shipped to disease-free states, where they infect other animals, Sabalow writes. "The Star's investigation uncovered examples of deer escaping from farms, shoddy recordkeeping and meager penalties for those caught breaking the rules, which further undermine state and federal efforts to contain the disease. Plus, in less than a decade, more than a dozen people have been charged with smuggling live deer across state lines."

That's led to an industry "made up of at least 10,000 farms and hunting preserves in the U.S. and Canada, a boutique business that's part livestock and part wildlife and often falls into a regulatory gap between agriculture and natural resource agencies," Sabalow writes. "And, when it comes to hunting deer in fenced preserves, the owners are often free to set their own rules."

"The Star investigation found that more than half the states that allow high-fence hunting provide little or no oversight of how deer and elk are killed," Sabalow writes. "So, while the killing of livestock is governed by humane slaughter rules, and the taking of wildlife is governed by hunting laws, anything goes on preserves in most states. The industry counters criticism of this fact by saying the market regulates itself, that hunters naturally eschew unethical behavior." (Read more)

The 18-month investigation also looked at breeding big-antlered deer, an in-depth look at deer hunting preserves, and a look at what could happen if preserve owners make the rules. The investigation also led to the leader of Indiana's Senate to call "for a summer study session to discuss the disease risks associated with Indiana's nearly 400 deer farms, and address the decades-long legislative and legal stalemate over high-fence hunting," Sabalow writes. (Read more)