Montana officials need to step up animal testing for diseases

I question whether it’s accurate for the Fish, Wildlife & Parks game warden to say that Montana is a state free of chronic wasting disease. Absence of proof is not proof of absence.

Free-roaming animals have spread CWD across most of Wyoming (and in many other states), and they may well have spread the disease into Montana. It’s hard to tell, however, because there’s not much testing going on by the state wildlife agency. While private deer farms that transport deer have to stringently monitor their animals for the disease, for instance, the state has no such requirement. Fish, Wildlife & Parks only tests around 1,000 free-roaming animals each year for CWD, which isn’t nearly enough to know whether the disease is or is not in Montana. The state needs to step up its testing.

 — Charly Seale is chairman of the media review committee of the American Cervid Alliance