Current through Register Vol. 24, December 22, 2023
(1)
The licensee must present the entire herd every 11-13 months for visual
inspection by a designated agent of the department, including verification and
recording of visual identification. The department will reconcile alternative
livestock game farm animal's identification and the alternative livestock
inventory with the department's records.
(2) The licensee must present the entire herd
no more than every three years beyond the initial herd enrollment for physical
inspection by a designated agent of the department, including verification and
recording of all forms of identification. The department will reconcile
alternative livestock game farm animal's identification and the alternative
livestock inventory with the department's records.
(3) The licensee must retain a complete herd
inventory of animals that shall include all forms of identification, age,
species, sex, source, and death if applicable. Individual animal records must
be retained for five years after a cervid has left a herd or has died. Records
must be made available to department personnel upon request and at the time of
each annual inspection or inventory.
(4) The licensee must report all alternative
livestock deaths to the department (Helena office) within five days of the
discovery of death as required by
87-4-415,
MCA.
(5) Upon the discovery of dead
cervids, the licensee must immediately request an inspection of the alternative
livestock as required by ARM
32.4.301.
At the time of the inspection of the dead animal, the alternative livestock
veterinarian shall remove the currently required tissue samples and/or
specimens and submit them to a department-approved laboratory for testing for
chronic wasting disease (CWD).
(a) An
alternative livestock licensee with a valid
veterinarian-client-patient-relationship with an alternative livestock
veterinarian may collect CWD samples from a dead cervid if the licensee has
been trained in sample collection by the alternative livestock veterinarian.
Licensees may only collect samples from animals from CWD certified status herds
owned by the licensee.
(i) Training for CWD
sample collection will involve the veterinarian supervising the licensee
through collection of CWD samples from at least two animals prior to the
licensee being allowed to collect samples unsupervised.
(ii) If a licensee collects CWD samples they
must submit the currently required tissue samples to an alternative livestock
veterinarian along with the animal's ear(s) or cape with ears intact containing
official identification tags and tattoo.
(iii) The alternative livestock veterinarian
will be responsible for submitting CWD samples to a department-approved
laboratory for testing as well as completing an inspection certificate for
submission to the department along with the official identification tags
removed from the ear(s).
(iv) If a
licensee collects a sample that is unsuitable for CWD testing due to poor
sample collection technique, the licensee must be re-trained by an alternative
livestock veterinarian before being allowed to collect any further CWD samples.
If a licensee continues to collect unsuitable samples after re-training the
licensee will no longer be able to collect CWD samples and the CWD certified
status of their herd may be reduced.
(b) The state veterinarian may, at his
discretion, grant a waiver to tissue sample and/or specimen submission from
alternative livestock. The following conditions may be considered:
(i) The licensee's herd is of CWD monitored
herd status level I or greater (or the equivalent thereof), as required by ARM
32.4.1303,
and the animal has not had contact with animals of lesser status.
(ii) The animal for which a waiver is
requested must have resided on the licensee's alternative livestock farm for 12
months or have resided in the herd from which it is transported for a period of
12 months.
(iii) The licensee must
be in compliance with all requirements of Title 87, chapter 4, part 4, MCA and
rules promulgated pursuant to this part.
(iv) The licensed alternative livestock farm
must have no documented cases of ingress of wild cervids or egress of
alternative livestock within the 18-month period immediately preceding the
request for a waiver. If it is determined by the state veterinarian there has
been no compromise in the surveillance status of the herd, this criteria may be
waived in the application for a waiver to CWD surveillance.
(v) There have been no breaches in perimeter
fence integrity that may have compromised the CWD surveillance status on the
alternative livestock herd.
(c) The state veterinarian may grant a waiver
with stipulations that may include, but is not limited to, additional whole
herd inspections. A waiver from CWD surveillance does not exempt the licensee
from any other requirements for inspection or testing of alternative
livestock.
(d) The state
veterinarian may not grant a waiver to the mandatory surveillance required in
this rule for an entire herd or for a cervid from a herd that has been
identified as a CWD affected, exposed or trace herd.
(e) The licensee is responsible for all costs
incurred for the examination of alternative livestock farm cervids, the
inspection services, the collection and submission of tissue sample and/or
specimens, and the laboratory diagnostic costs.
(6) Failure to comply with the requirements
of this rule may result in the following:
(a)
A requirement to replace missed or poor-quality samples with testable
post-mortem samples from an equal number of animals of the same sex and species
as the missed samples.
(b) The
monitored status of the herd may be reclassified to "suspended" or
reduced.
(c) The cervid herd may be
placed under a hold order.
(d) The
department may consider failure to comply with this rule as a violation of
87-4-427,
MCA.
(7) Any person
having knowledge that an alternative livestock farm cervid has been diagnosed
as affected with CWD or exposed to CWD must report that knowledge to the
department as required by ARM
32.4.1001.
NEW, 1999 MAR p. 652,
Eff. 4/9/99; AMD, 2010 MAR p. 2974, Eff. 12/24/10; AMD, 2013 MAR p. 414, Eff.
3/29/13; AMD, 2013 MAR p. 2308, Eff. 12/13/13; AMD,
2017
MAR p. 1661, Eff.
9/23/2017; AMD,
2019
MAR p. 2380, Eff.
12/28/2019
AUTH:
81-2-103,
81-2-104,
87-4-422,
MCA IMP:
81-2-103,
87-4-422,
MCA