Earlier this month, leaders of state and national deer and elk associations gathered in Texas for an in-person meeting of the American Cervid Alliance. This meeting, dubbed the National Cervid Congress, was held during the Texas Deer Association‘s annual conference in San Antonio.

The meeting allowed ACA councilmen the opportunity to dive deep into legislative and legal issues facing the industry, as well as strategic planning for the upcoming United States Animal Health Association conference. Councilmen that could not attend the meeting in Texas were able to join by phone.
 “This was an important meeting for our alliance and this is the exact type of planning we need to do in order to be successful,” Patrick Tarlton told the council. “The Texas Deer Association is proud to host this event for our national alliance.”
The planning for the United States Animal Health Association conference in October was extremely beneficial as the farmed cervid industry will have its own committee for the first time. Traditionally, farmed cervid issues have been lumped in with the Captive Wildlife and Alternative Livestock Committee with wildlife officials as committee chairs. The new Farmed Cervid Committee was proposed by the American Cervid Alliance in 2013.
Dr. Bret Marsh, who serves as Indiana’s state veterinarian, and Exotic Wildlife Association Executive Director Charly Seale, have been appointed to serve as the chair and vice-chair of the new committee.

“This is our industry’s committee to discuss all cervid health aspects,” Charly Seale explained to the ACA Council. We have a great agenda planned for October.”

In addition to discussing the new committee, ACA Moderator/North American Elk Breeders Association Executive Director Travis Lowe rolled out several proposed USAHA resolutions to improve cervid rules. Resolutions cover topics of Chronic Wasting Disease, Brucellosis, TB and EHD/BTV. “We have ambitious goals for our industry. Regulatory reform will improve our business climate. Some of these may be adopted and some may not. But we cannot sit on our hands and promise reform without starting the conversations.”
The American Cervid Alliance thanks the Texas Deer Association for hosting the 2017 National Cervid Congress. The United States Animal Health Association conference will take place in October and the ACA will distribute news releases as they become available.

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