Further clarification of Wildlife-livestock interactions policy

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In reading a May 15, 2007, JAVMA News article titled "Wildlife-livestock interactions policy adopted," the AVMA Committee on Environmental Issues identified inadequacies in certain background statements that accompanied the new policy. Subsequently, a Jan. 1, 2008, JAVMA News article reported that the Executive Board approved another recommendation from the entity that originated the policy—the Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee—to reaffirm it, and that the CEI joined the AALC in affirming and supporting the policy.

The CEI chair believes, however, that a further clarification is in order. That committee's memo of support for the policy included a caveat that statements in the policy background as previously worded and reported in JAVMA had not been made with the benefit of all available information on the subject. Those statements involved the sensitivity of bighorn sheep to large-scale die-offs, their susceptibility to Mannheimia haemolytica, and domestic and bighorn sheep interactions.