Elk post-mortem monitoring programs across the Prairies have been
accepted by 90 percent of producers, says George Luterbach of the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Luterbach said Manitoba already has a mandatory testing program in
place, while Saskatchewan and Alberta’s voluntary programs involve 90
percent of elk farms.
Those numbers are sure to increase given that the Saskatchewan
government changed over to a compulsory testing program on Jan. 1.
The programs test the heads of all elk that die or are killed on farms
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in the West.
Denise Smith, executive director of the Saskatchewan Elk Breeders
Association, said the organization lobbied last year to make testing in
Saskatchewan mandatory.
“In the eyes of our trading partners we need to show there is zero
tolerance and no acceptance for CWD or anything else.
“We have to show Canada takes food safety very seriously,” she said.
Luterbach said once producers join the provincial monitoring programs,
even if voluntarily, they are required to remain in the program.
“It also gives that farm and those animals a higher registered herd
health status each year you are in the program and you are disease
free,” he said.
“If you are not part of the program, you have the lowest status. A high
status herd can be dropped to the lowest if they buy an animal from a
non-participating farm. So that won’t likely happen. So it hurts your
prices if you don’t take part.”
According to documents published by the Alberta Elk Association, it
expects Alberta to make its CWD surveillance program mandatory as early
as Jan. 1, but there was no official announcement as of press time.
