There’s nothing to stop the Canadian Food Inspection Agency from destroying a herd of Ontario elk, which cost prairie producers million of dollars.
The CFIA has condemned the herd of 473 elk on Ste. Anne’s Deer Farm in Grafton, Ont., because one cow has tested positive for tuberculosis. Animals from Ontario are not allowed to be brought into Saskatchewan, but producers have been hopeful that a parasite test will be developed so the border can be opened.
Of the 36 owners of the elk, 34 are from Saskatchewan. They own 401 of the animals. They want the federal government to offer better compensation than rules permit.
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Every elk cow destroyed for TB now qualifies for $2,000 in compensation. The lowest price paid for one of the bred females in the herd was more than $9,000.
The entire herd is worth roughly $4.4 million. Compensation will be about $800,000.
“That’s pitiful,” said Earl Davis of Melfort, Sask., the spokesperson for the Saskatchewan producers.
Davis said his wife owns 11 of the animals, and if compensation is unchanged, the couple could lose $70,000.
He said some of the investors bought their animals with borrowed money, so they may be left without livestock and also having to pay interest on debt that didn’t get them anything.
Producers applied to an Ontario court for an injunction to stop the CFIA from exterminating the herd, but last week the court refused.
The CFIA plans to begin exterminating the animals on May 3.
The producers want to harvest some velvet and semen from the animals before they are killed, and they want the CFIA to use the herd for scientific research into infectious diseases, such as P. tenuis and E. cervi worms.
Because the court refused the injunction, producers face the loss of all animals and might only receive compensation worth less than 25 percent of the value of the elk.
But Davis said the Saskatchewan producers will be pushing the federal government to raise the compensation level, which might not be such a long shot.
Last year, the federal government increased compensation beyond normal levels for Quebec sheep producers hit by scrapie.
NDP MP John Solomon and the Saskatchewan Liberal party have taken on the cause, demanding better compensation.
No one disagrees with the decision to kill the animals.
“It’s a public risk,” said Terry Harris of the Saskatchewan Elk Breeders Association.
“We don’t question at all the need to put down the animals.”
