The Fund for Animals, a national animal protection organization with 7,000 members in Pennsylvania, is applauding the decision by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) to finally close state borders to the import and export of deer and elk. The PGC's decision, issued on July 30th by Executive Director Vern Ross, follows in the wake of similar bans in an attempt to curtail the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) among wildlife. Twenty-one states have banned all cervid imports and all other states have restrictions in place. Although no cases of CWD have been found in Pennsylvania, The Fund is commending the ban as an important preventative measure.
CWD, a form of brain disease similar to Mad Cow Disease, has been spreading among both wild and farmed herds of deer and elk in Colorado and Wisconsin. The transport of these animals, as well as exotics, from farms to game ranches, is thought to have been one way the disease is transmitted. In a letter sent to all 50 state wildlife agencies, Heidi Prescott, National Director of The Fund for Animals, urged closing all state borders to animal imports and exports, as well as closing down game farms and canned hunts. "We commend the PGC for taking this important step to protect Pennsylvania's wildlife," said Prescott. "We also urge the agency to go a step further and ban canned hunts and game farms, where high densities of captive animals are time bombs of disease waiting to explode. For the sake of the health of wildlife it needs to be done."
The Fund for Animals has offered its help to state agencies to pass regulations and legislation banning canned hunts and game farms. "It is our hope that together with some of the hunting organizations who recognize canned hunting as cruel and unsporting, we can address this serious problem," said Prescott. "This issue may be one area that groups like The Fund and state wildlife agencies can work together."
More information on canned hunts and CWD is available at The Fund for Animals' web site, www.cannedhunts.com.
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