ACA Responds In response to the recent Indy Star articles which published many false and defamatory statements regarding the deer industry, the following is a response by attorney Clinton Patty, representing the American Cervid Alliance. Karen Krotchfelt President and Publisher The Indianapolis Star PO Box 145 Indianapolis, IN 46206-0145 Re: False Reporting by the Indianapolis Star regarding the captive deer industry Dear Ms. Krotchfelt, Please be advised this law firm represents the American Cervid Association (ACA), an international organization representing more than 36 deer and elk breeding associations in the United States and Canada. On behalf of the ACA, I am expressing profound disappointment in the lack of professional standards and journalistic ethics shown in the Indianapolis Stars recent article by Ryan Sabalow regarding the farmed deer industry. (Trophy deer industry linked to disease, costs taxpayers millions, IndyStar online). While one-sided journalism has become all too common, Mr. Sabalows articles contains a number of outright falsehoods, printed with the obvious attempt to maliciously harm the captive cervid industry. Presented as legitimate journalism rather than commentary, the articles have been picked up, quoted and reprinted in a number of news outlets throughout the United States. This has had the effect of expanding the damage caused by Mr. Sabalows articles. The nature of the farmed cervid industry puts it at odds with various radical animal rights groups and state wildlife officials who are opposed to private individuals hunting on non-permitted state property. While these groups, and Mr. Sabalow, are always entitled to their opinions, they are not entitled to their own facts. The purpose of this letter is to point out the multiple highly exaggerated and/or outright false statements made within the articles and provide your newspaper the opportunity to retract Mr. Sabalows commentary in its entirety. The multiple of highly exaggerated or outright false statements presented as facts in the article include the following: 1. An Indianapolis Star investigation has discovered the industry costs taxpayers millions of dollars, compromises long-standing wildlife laws, endangers wild deer and undermines the governments multibillion-dollar effort to protect livestock and the food supply. While all livestock moved in commerce pose some risk of disease, the fact is that the farmed cervid industry operates in a highly regulated environment that reduces the risk of disease much more so than wild cervids. This outrageous statement has no factual support within the article for such an outrageous and defamatory conclusion. Mr. Sabalow also fails to include in his articles all of the other ways that CWD can be spread, proven by more than 40 years of research, such as the movement of carcasses from CWD endemic areas, untested wildlife moving across state lines, crows and scavengers who can spread the prions, alfalfa hay that can carry the prions, etc. If Mr. Sabalows intent was to educate hunters and the general public about the real threat of CWD spreading across the country, rather than a sole intent to damage the farmed cervid industry, he would have included all of these very important facts. 2. Captive-deer facilities have spread tuberculosis to cattle and are suspected in the spread of deadly foreign deer lice in the West. More importantly, the Stars investigation uncovered compelling circumstantial evidence that the industry also has helped accelerate the spread of CWD.... This statement is false as there have been no studies or evidence (circumstantial or otherwise) to suggest that captive deer facilities have spread exotic lice. While exotic lice can be an issue for deer, the initial source of the spread has never been identified, although the first documented cases were identified in 1995 in western Washington. There is absolutely no proof that deer breeders are to blame for the lice issue and another important fact is there are no whitetail deer farms allowed in any of the states Mr. Sabalow mentions in his video; Washington, Idaho, California and Oregon. To the contrary, in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, it has been discovered on multiple occasions that elk in the wild have been the cause of spreading bovine brucellosis. Further, there are presently no reported cases of tuberculosis among captive deer or elk. The only known study on the subject of TB in Michigan demonstrated that bovine tuberculosis was actually introduced to deer and elk breeds by cattle, not the other way around. The largest threat of tuberculosis in the United States to domestic livestock and humans is from cattle imported from Mexico, not cervids. Nor is there any scientific evidence demonstrating farmed deer or elk accelerate the spread of CWD. Free ranging wild deer and elk are just as capable of spreading CWD to farmed cervids and have done so on numerous occasions. The federal CWD rule now exempts wild cervids from the same CWD testing requirements as the cervid industry in order to move across state lines, therefore presenting an even bigger risk of spreading the disease across state lines. Furthermore, there are at least half dozen states that have CWD and do not allow farmed deer or elk proving that CWD is not a farmed deer and elk disease. Mr. Sabalow mentions several times that there are numerous instances where CWD could jump the species barrier to humans. However, all scientific research has shown CWD, unlike BSE, is limited solely to cervids and cannot infect humans. 3. The interstate movement of deer through the wild herd undermines the multibillion-dollar efforts of state and federal wildlife and agriculture agencies to protect wild deer and livestock from disease. It poses a particular threat to the cattle industry, which is also subsidized by taxpayers. To the extent that CWD is mentioned, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that CWD can jump species to cattle, 4. Indiana spent $1.2 million fighting an outbreak of bovine TB that started on a deer farm and spread to a cattle ranch. This is another outright falsehood. There is no evidence to suggest this particular outbreak began on a deer farm. 5. Michigan and Minnesota have spent more than $200 million fighting bovine TB. Those outbreaks werent linked to the captive-deer industry, but some smaller ones have been. This is another outright false statement. All of the TB cases in Michigan and Minnesota have been linked either to the cattle or deer in the wild. Even the few cases of the farmed deer having TB in Michigan were proven to be linked to the wild herd and the cattle herd by using DNA testing. 6. Mr. Sabalow references CWD found in New York in 2005, stating that the disease was found in a deer farm owned by a taxidermist. He concludes that scientists consider it a near mathematical certainty that the disease entered the state through a deer farm. The most critical fact in that case was purposely left out of the article. It was later proven that CWD was most likely introduced through the taxidermists farm through carcasses brought in from the western United States for his taxidermy work, not from captive cervids. More than twelve years of data collected and studied by the USDA clearly demonstrate that cervids in captivity do not contribute to increased instances of CWD. Had Mr. Sabalow included key industry members and qualified members of the scientific community who have studied this issue, much of this article might not have been printed. However, as it stands, the false, malicious and defamatory statements contained therein continue to damage the captive cervid industry. 7. The most repeated untruth is the overstated risk of possible devastation of CWD to wild populations. That simply does not and cannot happen where a disease only infects less than one half of one percent on a national basis for a decade and animals can reproduce for several years post infection. Please let us know your intent regarding a retraction. We would be glad to provide you access to qualified members of the scientific community to support the statements within this letter upon your request. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Clinton E. Patty Frieden, Unrein & Forbes, LLP
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 22:09:36 +0000