House passes bill defining ownership and limiting field culling of captive deer after CWD detection

The Alabama House passed House Bill 509, which clarifies that licensed game breeders own animals in their possession and restricts the authority to kill breeder animals inside facilities solely because of a CWD detection outside the facility.

Representative Sorrells, sponsor of the bill, told the House that HB 509 "does establish that the licensed breeder is the owner of the animals in possession, that these animals that they have bought, cared for, and bred are their personal property and not owned by the state of Alabama." He framed the measure as protecting businesses and livelihoods from what he called "government overreach." Sorrells also said the bill "does not restrict the killing of deer for additional testing due to a positive test outside the facility in the wild."

The debate focused on two core issues: (1) ownership of animals in breeding facilities and (2) how state conservation rules allow disease management interventions after CWD is detected in the wild. Sponsors and many supporters said the department’s emergency rule that drew a 25-mile radius around a positive wild deer and authorized culling within that area could lead to breeders losing animals without evidence of infection inside their facilities.

Lawmakers and breeders described CWD monitoring practices and testing limits. Several representatives noted that licensed breeders have voluntarily tested many animals over decades and that no CWD positives had been detected in breeder facilities in Alabama during long-term testing. Representative McCampbell and others discussed the limitations of available live tests; the sponsor’s floor amendment addressed movement and testing protocols.

Floor amendment: Representative Sorrells offered a floor amendment to allow movement of animals out of a CWD management zone if a live negative test is performed and approved by the state veterinarian; it also provided for movement of genetically CWD-resistant stock once a breeding threshold is reached and allowed movement when animals are behind a double fence. The amendment passed by recorded vote (98 ayes, 1 nay) on the floor.

Opposition and conservation concerns: Representatives and several stakeholders, including the Alabama Department of Conservation, expressed concern about disease spread and urged strong monitoring and the ability to manage herds to protect wild populations and hunting economies. Some members of the House and letters from large landowners urged that conservation professionals retain the authority to monitor and, where necessary, act to limit spread.

Final vote: The bill passed as amended. The final recorded vote on passage as amended was 84 yeas and 8 nays. The adopted language preserves testing and monitoring but constrains conservation’s emergency culling authority inside breeder facilities in the absence of evidence of infection inside the facility; it also creates routes for live-test-based movement and double-fence exceptions.

Implementation: The bill directs movement and testing rules to the state veterinarian and preserves the Department of Agriculture and Industries’ role in testing death losses at facilities. It does not repeal disease surveillance or testing requirements for animals that die in a facility; rather, it limits the circumstances under which conservation staff may enter and cull breeder animals based solely on nearby wild positives. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the state veterinarian will have roles in implementing the live-test exceptions created by the floor amendment.