After lengthy legal battle, state culls 249 deer infected with chronic wasting disease

Robert Williams has been Raised white-tailed deer on a ranch The animals were kept in Kaufman County, east of Dallas, by a man who was breeding them to sell for trophy hunting, but one of them tested positive for chronic wasting disease, prompting the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to move to cull them at the facility. According to agency policy.

Chronic wasting disease is a contagious neurological disease. spread in numbers Texas has seen a string of deer farm closures in recent years, and Williams' three-year legal battle with the state ended in late May when wildlife officials ordered the culling of about 250 deer.

Roque PlanasA Huffington Post reporter in Austin told Texas Standard: About the incident.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Texas Standard: This dispute between the state and Williams has been going on for a long time. Why did it come to a head in May?

Roque Planas: Well, you're right, this fight has been going on for a long time. Robert Williams was trying in court to establish some kind of property rights to keep the state from killing the herd of deer that he had raised.

The issue has been in the legal battle for a long time, and the state's lawyers have always maintained that they will win in the end. They were finally able to obtain a decision to release the animals from the state Supreme Court in April, and the legal battle continued for about two months after that. However, they were finally able to release the animals in May.

How is he now affected by this event?

So yeah, I think it's very emotionally affected him, and he has a strong attachment to these deer, which I don't think people necessarily understand.

He's been working on this project for decades. One of the deer that was killed before Texas Parks and Wildlife arrived was treated like a pet and was allowed into the house. His daughter bottle-fed some of these deer. So it's been a huge emotional blow to him.

From a business perspective, the moment CWD was discovered on his ranch, his business was essentially over. That meant he could no longer sell deer for hunting. He could no longer sell deer to other breeders. His business as a deer breeder, which was the foundation of his business, was over at that point.

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But consider what the states were concerned about: chronic wasting disease, which is similar to mad cow disease but can be devastating to animals like deer and elk. Is there widespread agreement about that risk, or is it less so?

Conservation biologists generally consider CWD to be the biggest threat facing our nation's deer herds. The problem with CWD is that once it gets into an area, it's very difficult to eliminate.

Wildlife managers have not had much success removing deer from areas once they have become established. Management and containment are key. Beyond a certain level of infestation, deer populations begin to decline. It's an area that many fear.

And the fear remains. There is no evidence, There are warnings that it could one day infect humans, which is why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends not eating meat infected with CWD.

Is it clear how these deer became infected with CWD in the first place?

No. There are a few theories about that. In Robert Williams' case, the herd was closed. He hadn't received any deer from other properties in years. No one has any idea how they got there.

There is speculation that humans may spread prion diseases, perhaps via other corpses or boots, which is how they enter new areas.

Another theory is that vultures may eat diseased prions and then regurgitate them into the environment. We don't know for sure; this is something biologists are currently studying.

How do you view this lawsuit and its outcome — although I should say that Mr. Williams intends to continue to fight the case in court — how do you think this will impact how states deal with CWD and how it will impact the industry overall?

I believe the state will continue to prioritize deer culling as the primary way to address new infections at breeding facilities. In reality, the state's mandate is to protect wild deer, and breeding deer make up a small but very profitable corner of the Texas hunting industry.

And Texas is in the unique situation where wildlife like white-tailed deer are considered a public resource, yet the state allows people like Robert Williams to breed them and then sell them for hunting at a profit, which can reach prices in the tens of thousands of dollars.

It's an uncomfortable position to be in, but ultimately the state asserts its right to manage these deer as wildlife and remove them from farms where the disease has occurred.