Fighting for the LIVES of ALL Texas Deer
Mission Statement:
Working for sensible science based regulations to protect ALL Texas deer, Texas deer breeders, landowners and deer hunters from special interest groups including Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas Animal Health Commission from overreach and over regulation
What is Chronic Wasting Disease?
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a deer disease that is transmitted in countless ways and has now been detected in 31 States and four Canadian Provinces. CWD has never been stopped once it has been detected and continues to be discovered in those states when testing is required. Some states require testing while others don’t. If you look for something long enough, you will find it.
First Case in Colorado
Chronic Wasting Disease was first found in 1967 in captive mule deer in Colorado. CWD has been documented in captive and free-ranging deer in 31 states and in Canada.
Discovery in Texas
The first case of CWD was discovered in 2012 in a free-ranging mule deer in West Texas and in a captive white-tailed deer in 2015. Hundreds of cases have been confirmed in captive and free-ranging deer since the initial discovery in 2012.
Economic Impact
If CWD is not contained and controlled, the implications of the disease for Texas and its multi-billion-dollar ranching, hunting, wildlife management, and real estate economies could be significant.
What TPWD SHOULD be doing:
There are over 11,000 permitted Texas ranches totaling nearly 28 million acres under the Managed Land for Deer program (MLD). Each of these permits are issued annually by TPWD. These MLD permits are paid for by landowners and they allow special management practices to improve deer habitats and control population density. MLD’s are currently not required to test for CWD. Our suggestion is a simple one. Begin to look for CWD everywhere and not just in captive facilities and the best and most logical place to start is the MLD program. TPWD could easily require ALL MLD holders to test the first 25 animals taken under each MLD program every year with tests paid for by the MLD holders. Doing these additional statewide tests would be a more in-depth look for the disease and allow for a better understanding of where the disease has already taken hold in Texas.
What TPWD is NOT doing about CWD and how TPWD is targeting deer breeder facilities:
TPWD is NOT looking for this serious disease statewide! We believe that if CWD is a serious disease it should be looked for statewide. Instead, TPWD is targeting deer breeder facilities while avoiding the issue of testing statewide for the disease.
FACT: Licensed Texas Deer Breeders are the best resource for curing CWD for countless reasons
TPWD is only looking for CWD in selected areas of the state and not statewide. TPWD’s CWD check stations fail testing all hunter harvested animals because most hunters refuse to bring them for testing stations for various reasons.
Facts You Should Know
There are an estimated 5.3 million wild deer in the state of Texas with only 0.3% of the entire deer population being tested for CWD.
There are an estimated 80,000 Captive Deer in the state of Texas with 100% of all these deer being tested for CWD.
Texas Parks and Wildlife currently requires testing of 100% of ALL deer in Texas Deer Breeding Facilities at the breeders expense for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). To date Texas Deer Breeders have spent over $25,000,000 of their own money testing these deer with only a 0.005% rate of disease detection for CWD.
Meanwhile, Texas Parks and Wildlife has tested 0.3% of the wild deer population.
Breeder deer are being tested at a rate of 333x times higher than wild deer. Why is this? If CWD is such a serious disease, then why not have testing of ALL deer to determine the prevalence rate state wide and not just in breeder facilities?
BUZZARD MIGRATION ROUTES
Buzzards fly an average of 200 miles a day during migration. Saskatchewan has a HIGH CWD PREVALENCE!
Arkansas has a HIGH CWD PREVALENCE!
CWD ACROSS THE US
Wyoming is the most infected state in the nation and has never allowed deer breeding or baiting. Tennessee, Virginia and Maryland have never allowed deer breeding and have CWD.
Arkansas, Lousiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, North Dakota, Illinois and Florida have CWD in the wild and never a positive commercial Breeder Deer Facility.
West Virigina had known CWD infection for over 15 years prior to a Commercial Breeder Deer Facility became positive in an area with 33% infection in the wild deer herd surrounding the Facility.
DR. JAMES KROLL'S CWD FACTS AND FICTION
FACT: CWD is not a devastating disease.
There is NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that CWD has caused a population decrease anywhere in the united states (including the highly infected state of Colorado.) #1 cause of population decrease is changing land use and habitat deterioration. Record bucks were harvested from highly infected zones in W1 with optimum populations.
FICTION: CWD is spread by deer farming.
There is NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE anywhere that CWD is spread by deer farming. CWD can show up anywhere at anytime and has a spontaneous nature. The deer farmer is the victim of the disease as it is used by those opposed to deer farms.
FACT: CWD is not a highly contagious disease.
There is NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that CWD has caused a population decrease anywhere in the united states (including the highly infected state of Colorado.) #1 cause of population decrease is changing land use and habitat deterioration. Record bucks were harvested from highly infected zones in W1 with optimum populations.
FICTION: All CWD positive animals will die of the disease.
There is NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE anywhere that CWD is spread by deer farming. CWD can show up anywnere at anytime and has a spontaneous nature. The deer farmer is the victim of the disease as it is used by those opposed to deer farms.
FACT: CWD is NOT dramatically increasing and spreading in WI
The statistics used by state agencies regarding an increase in the spread of CWD represent a gross misuse of the scientific method, data collection and research design. 75% of tseting for the states data was done on animals in a highly infected area. This data cannot be representative of the infection reate in the whole state.
FACT: CWD is not a highly contagious disease.
There is NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that CWD has caused a population decrease anywhere in teh united states (including the highly infected state of Colorado.) #1 cause of population decrease is changing land use and habitat deterioration. Record bucks were harvested from highly infected zones in W1 with optimum populations.
FACT: There has been absolutely NO valid peer reviewed published science in 50 years that has shown any decline in deer and elk populations due to CWD!
The OX Ranch Story
This video is unlike any other CWD video ever produced in that it features one deer breeding facility that had a known CWD-positive deer.
Can CWD be Prevented??
Dr. Seabury a professor of pathobiology at Texas A&M discusses some amazing new genetic discoveries that help explain why deer get chronic wasting disease and which ones are more or less likely to contract the disease.
