On Thursday, the Minnesota House Agriculture and Food Finance and Policy Division took up four bills related to Chronic Wasting Disease:
- HF229 (Becker-Finn) - Farmed Cervidae additional fencing requirements established.
- HF305 (Becker-Finn) - White-tailed deer possession moratorium provided, buyout program created, and money appropriated.
- HF553 (Becker-Finn) - Farmed Cervidae regulatory duties and powers transferred from Board of Animal Health to Department of Natural Resources.
- HF1362 (Her) - Farmed Cervidae herd depopulation required when an animal is infected with chronic wasting disease.
The hearing was about what one could expect--including demands that no one talk about the potential jump of CWD across the species barrier, attempts by Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake, to blend Roseville DFLer and outdoors woman Jamie Becker-Finn's walk through into a paste of prion disorders bovine, cervidae and human, an anti-government outburst by New Republican Tim Miller and much, much more.
Our favorite point might be the emotional appeals about pet whitetails and Steve Porter's son--never mind the thousands of Minnesota teens who may find their ability to deer hunt impaired by the potential spread of CWD. Readers met him in Fabian donor: Kittson County deer farmer battles scientists, DFL lawmakers in Facebook videos.
Perhaps it's too much to expect sound policy to emerge from folks who position whitetails as livestock, staged-hunt game and beloved pets at the same time--while the uncurable and always fatal disease spreads to the state's public deer herd.
Here's the whole circus:
Photo: St. Paul Rep and deer hunter Kaohly Her presents her bill to the Ag and Food division.
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