According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), Texas Game Wardens have made two arrests in connection with an illegal white-tailed deer smuggling operation in Montgomery County, Texas.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), a South Texas deer breeder and his business partner were apprehended by Game Wardens while attempting to smuggle seven deer from a licensed deer breeding facility in East Texas. Their route took them through Montgomery County to Brazoria and Duval Counties, where it is believed they intended to release the deer illegally into the wild on private property.
According to TPWD, a Montgomery County Game Warden pulled over a vehicle and discovered a deer being transported without the necessary documentation or identification. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that there were “significant violations of TPWD statutes and regulations” along with other criminal and traffic offenses.
According to reports, both individuals were apprehended and taken into custody, where they were subsequently processed and incarcerated in the Montgomery County Jail.
The deer breeder was charged with a total of 41 offenses, as reported by TPWD. These charges included 11 violations of the penal code, 29 violations related to deer breeding, and one violation of the traffic code. It is said that the man admitted guilt for all 29 deer breeder violations and three penal code violations.
According to TPWD, the business partner has been charged with two penal code violations and 28 deer breeder violations. TPWD has confirmed that he has been convicted of these charges.
According to TPWD, both individuals were found guilty of committing multiple violations to evade disease monitoring and testing regulations. These violations included neglecting to conduct pre-mortem chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing, failing to obtain proper transfer permits, unlawfully removing breeder deer without the required identification, and illegally possessing live game animals.
According to TPWD, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the men were found guilty of a total of 57 violations related to deer breeding. In addition, they were also charged with one alcohol violation and two dangerous drug violations. As a result, they were fined a total of $12,060.
According to TPWD, they regulate the possession and movement of deer in order to prevent the spread of disease and protect the well-being of both captive and free-range populations. You can find more details about these regulations on the TPWD website.
“Flagrant violations, such as intentionally transferring deer without identifiers, hinder Texas’ ability to identify the source of a deer in the event of a disease detection,” said Col. Ronald VanderRoest, TPWD Law Enforcement Director. “This creates the potential for negative impacts to the health of both captive and free ranging deer populations, the deer breeder industry, landowners, hunters and Texas’ outdoor and rural based economies, where white-tailed deer hunting has a $9.6 billion annual economic contribution.”
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) made the difficult decision to euthanize the deer they had in their possession. This choice was made because there was no suitable location for them to be returned to, and there were concerns about potential risks associated with releasing them into the wild. TPWD followed established protocols for disease testing, and fortunately, no signs of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) were found.
