They do everything a bit bigger in Texas and that includes culling infected whitetails at captive breeding facilities.
On the heels of a two-year legal battle, Texas Wildlife officials got to doing the Lord’s work and worked their way through every last deer on Robert Williams’ 1,500-acre high-fence ranch in Kaufman County, known as RW Trophy Ranch.
The 85-year-old deer breeder watched helplessly as a team of 68 officials killed, dissected and disposed of the remaining 249 animals on his ranch.
The first instance of chronic wasting disease detected on the ranch in 2021 was the tipping point into the years-long court battle between the rancher and both the Texas Animal Health Commission and Texas Parks & Wildlife. Williams and the state battled over an agreeable management plan to contain and stop any future outbreaks, but ultimately failed to come to a resolution.
When eight deer on the ranch again tested positive for the disease in 2022, the state ordered the infected deer to be killed. Rather than cooperate, Williams objected to their orders and instead filed suit. By the time the case ended up at Houston’s 14th Court of Appeals and finally the State Supreme Court, the ranch was up to 208 positive CWD cases.
The lawsuit was tied up for two years before the Supreme finally upheld the state’s decision in April of this year. This ruling allowed the depopulation order to be carried out by wildlife officials, which was referred to by agency officials as the ‘worst-ever CWD outbreak’ in the state’s history.
The rancher, however, remains determined in his fight against the state. He has vowed to fill an additional suit in an attempt to seek reimbursement for the killed deer.
But given Texas Law, it’s unlikely he’ll see a cent.
