Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
(1) Alternative livestock owned or
transferred to any alternative livestock farm within the state of Montana must
be individually identified by the method prescribed by the
department.
(2) Every alternative
livestock animal must be marked with a whole herd mark (herd tattoo) registered
to an alternative livestock farm animal owner and placed in the location on the
animal identified by the department's recorder of marks and brands.
(a) The herd tattoo placed in an animal born
on the alternative livestock farm or imported to the alternative livestock farm
from out-of-state shall be that of the owner of the animal and is recognized as
the original tattoo.
(b) Retattoo
of an illegible tattoo shall be done by a designated agent of the department
and shall be the original tattoo (herd of origin) of the animal. When an animal
is retattooed, the designated agent of the department shall submit a
certificate of veterinary inspection to the department documenting the retattoo
of the animal and the complete animal identification, age, sex and species
information.
(c) The recorded whole
herd mark (herd tattoo) has all of the rights of ownership granted under
81-3-105,
MCA.
(3) Under the
authority of
87-4-414,
MCA, and 9 CFR 55 and 81, each alternative livestock will be marked with two
forms of official identification approved by the department. One approved
method of identification will be the Montana official eartag.
(a) Official ear tags will be issued to and
applied by alternative livestock veterinarians or other department-designated
agents. Alternative livestock veterinarians may choose to delegate authority to
apply tags to an alternative livestock licensee within the context of a valid
veterinarian-client-patient-relationship. In the circumstance that a licensee
applies tags to alternative livestock the following conditions must be met:
(i) The alternative livestock licensee may
only apply tags to their own animals in herds that have achieved CWD certified
status as defined in ARM
32.4.1303.
(ii) The alternative livestock
licensee may apply tags to calves born in the same year as the tagging event.
All calf tagging must be completed and reported to the Department of Livestock
prior to January 1. Tagging information must be reported to the Department of
Livestock on an official department form within five days of the tagging event.
If the alternative livestock licensee requests an extension to the January 1
tagging deadline a veterinarian must then apply the tags.
(iii) The alternative livestock licensee may
apply replacement tags or tags to adult animals. The animal(s) must have one
official tag in place prior to application of the replacement tag.
(b) USDA official eartags and
Montana official eartags are nontransferable and can only be removed from an
alternative livestock animal by a department-designated agent.
(c) Montana official eartags that are lost
from alternative livestock must be surrendered to a department-designated agent
or the department as soon as possible after the retrieval of the tag.
(d) All animal identification tags retrieved
from alternative livestock by the department-designated agent shall be
submitted to an approved diagnostic laboratory with samples for CWD testing or
to the department Helena office for animals that are not CWD test
eligible.
(4) The
unauthorized removal of a Montana official eartag or USDA official eartag, or
the alteration or reuse of tags shall constitute a violation of this rule.
(5) The alteration of a whole herd
mark except as outlined in (2)(b) of this rule shall constitute a violation of
this rule and
81-3-221,
MCA.
AUTH:
81-2-102,
81-2-103,
87-4-422,
MCA IMP:
81-2-102,
81-2-103,
87-4-422,
MCA