- Hello Jeff - Hell. no...why let a little thing like prion
disease (DEATH) get in the way of hunting 'fun' (killing living things),
field 'dressing' (gutting and dismembering the dead), and good 'eats' from
the deer! This article is just so absurd that it begs for comment.
-
- If an adult hunter knows the risks and makes a decision
to continue to hunt and eat deer, it's the same as smokers who know they
get cancer from cigarette smoking but continue to smoke anyway.
-
- If an adult decides to eat the meat he slaughtered, that
is one thing. However, the hunters often share their dangerous and
potentially deadly feast with other people, many of whom are children.
Just as smokers put other people at risk from second hand smoke, so too,
hunters put others at risk when they share deer, elk and moose flesh.
-
- Frankly, after all of the information in the media on
Chronic Wasting Disease, and knowing that CWD is spreading, why would ANYONE
in their right mind want to risk hunting and eating deer, elk and moose
meat?
-
- Patty
-
-
- http://www.austindailyherald.com/2011/01/25/cwd-disease-doesnt-stand-in-way-of-local-hunters/
-
- CWD disease doesn't stand in way of local hunters
- Published 7:54am Tuesday, January 25, 2011
-
- When local hunters heard Chronic Wasting Disease had
been found in a Minnesota deer last week, they didn't panic.
-
- Travvis Stayton of Austin has hunted deer for about 20
years, and he's not going to stop. Though CWD has been prevalent in whitetails
in surrounding states for several years, it's not something he and other
hunters usually discuss.
-
- Stayton has heard the disease cannot taint venison or
spread to humans. He's right. And putting meat in the freezer is a main
reason Stayton hunts every year.
-
- He's optimistic about the current situation.
-
- "If it's only one deer that has it, it doesn't mean
the whole herd has it," he said. "It's not going to change my
perspective on hunting deer."
-
- Stayton doesn't foresee the problem having any effect
on his friends or family and the way they hunt deer either.
-
- However, CWD strikes curiosity in Stayton and others.
-
- "I do wonder how they get the disease," he
said. "Is it from something they eat? Is it from farmer's fields?"
-
- Lou Cornicelli, DNR big game program coordinator, tests
Minnesota's deer for CWD. The deer don't contract the disease from eating
certain foods, he said. Nobody is quite sure how it originated. What experts
know is that CWD is caused by a protein in the brain and nervous system
and causes deer to act strange. Drooling, staggering, excessive thirst
and emaciation are a few of the effects. They also know deer pass it to
each other through saliva, feces and urine.
-
- Hunters Ben and Diane Jacobsen of LeRoy aren't stressing
about the issue either.
-
- "We've got so many deer around here; even if we
couldn't eat the meat we'd still hunt bucks," Diane said.
-
- The Jacobsens' kids have been looking forward to hunting,
as this year will be their first hunt. CWD won't stop that.
-
- What the Jacobsens fear is the potential effects on area
wildlife. If CWD could transfer to other animals, such as eagles, coyotes,
raccoons or skunks, they wonder how far down the line it could go.
-
- The Jacobsens are opening a pheasant and upland bird
hunting preserve in the fall. They breed and train bird dogs - Ben's main
concern. CWD in their dogs would possibly ruin what they have started.
-
- According to the Center for Disease Control, that's not
possible. CWD stays within a few similar species, such as deer, elk and
moose.
-
- Although some hunters won't stop hunting; area DNR Wildlife
Manager Jeanine Vorland said hunter turnout could initially decline. But
she noted how dedicated Mower County's deer hunters have been and sees
no long term effects.
-
- Cornicelli agrees with Vorland. Although hunting significantly
declined in Wisconsin when CWD was discovered, Minnesota is way ahead of
the curve. Not only do hunters know a lot more about the disease today,
Minnesota's surveillance of CWD has been second-to-none. Since 2002, more
than 32,000 of Minnesota's deer tested negative for CWD - until now.
-
- The infected deer, found last week near Pine Island,
was near an elk farm already known to have CWD. Cournicelli said wildlife
workers plan more surveillance in that area and will also ban recreational
feeding for some time.
-
- In Mower County, things will continue as usual. The DNR
plans no new tests or surveillance for Mower unless it can prove spread
of the disease.
-
- Cornicelli looks at the positive side of things. CWD
has been in deer long before anyone realized its existence, and Minnesota's
deer are testing healthier than anywhere else.
-
- "Deer aren't going to start dropping over dead tomorrow,"
Cournicelli said.
-
- Southeastern Minnesota's DNR officials met Monday regarding
the recent find - but not because they panicked. They're devising more
plans to stay ahead of the disease.
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at:http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also
my new website: <http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/>http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan
le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
-
- Benjamin Franklin said, "They that
- can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve
- neither liberty nor safety."
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