Saskatchewan and Alberta elk farmers have joined a class-action lawsuit claiming Agriculture Canada negligently allowed diseased animals into the country.
Blane and Glen Heitt of Unity, Sask., and Rick Alsager of Maidstone, Sask., filed the suit in Regina on Nov. 28.
They say Agriculture Canada allowed farmers to import elk and deer even though adequate tests to test for chronic wasting disease were not available. They claim that government also knew that diseases such as CWD and bovine tuberculosis existed in American herds in the 1970s.
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Those diseases have cost farmers and the government millions of dollars to eradicate.
Blane Heitt’s wife, Elva, said there have been many calls from those interested in joining since the lawsuit was filed.
While unsure of the current numbers, she confirmed producers from Saskatchewan and Alberta are now participating in the lawsuit.
“As more of the guys have to put their animals down, they will be joining the suit,” Heitt said.
CWD, a fatal brain disorder, has affected 40 herds of farmed elk in Saskatchewan and one herd in Alberta since 2000. It has also been confirmed in farmed deer in Alberta and in wild deer in Saskatchewan.
