Over the past 23 years (since 1990), we have witnessed Hoof Rot increase from one Game Management Unit (GMU) in Pacific County to over 21 GMU’s over 10 counties, affecting thousands of elk in SW Washington.
The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, (WDFW) report http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/health/hoof_rot/ states simply that they do not know what is causing it, nor do they have any plan to contain or treat this now pandemic outbreak. WDFW estimates over 55 percent of all elk in the 10 counties, covering over 3.4 million acres, are affected. WDFW further states that due to lack of funding, they are unable to determine the cause or come up with any plan for treatment of the disease. All this despite the involvement of Washington State University, Colorado State and the WDFW staff. The report also states that they are currently allocating limited funds towards this problem and do not intend to allocate additional resources, despite the devastation to the Washington elk herds.
We feel that at this time, the WDFW is not effectively being proactive in combating or evaluating this outbreak. We further feel, that their lack of action will certainly lead to the continued spread of the disease throughout the west side of the Cascades and potentially south into Oregon.
If you witnessed the pain and suffering of these animals, you would have no doubt that we are being cruel and inhumane by doing nothing. tdn.cm/video-hoof-rot-elk-herd/yougtube_5a573d30-0377-11. If this outbreak was on a domestic farm, the owners would be arrested for animal cruelty.
In addition, sportsmen are being allowed to harvest these diseased animals, told to allow their nose to be their guide. What investigation has been done related to the consumption of diseased animals to assure that they are even safe to eat?
Therefore, I would ask senators and representatives to lead this investigational effort and encourage the WDFW to make Hoof Rot their number one priority; to immediately allocate all required resources to define the cause and develop a treatment or containment plan for this devastating disease.
Hoof Rot was not witnessed or recorded in the state prior to the 1990s, so what has changed or developed over the past 23 years? We feel an immediate response is necessary to correct this crisis and preserve our elk herds for future generations.
Bruce Barnes
Vancouver
