29.575 AnnotationApplicability of animal regulatory statutes to game farm operators discussed.
72 Atty. Gen. 43.
29.578
29.578
Deer farms; venison serving permits. 29.578(1)
(1) The owner or lessee of any lands within this state suitable for breeding and propagating of deer shall have the right upon complying with this section to establish, operate and maintain a deer farm for the purpose of breeding, propagating, killing and selling deer on such lands, the acreage and size of which shall be determined by the department. Such deer farm must be completely inclosed by a fence. Any streams whether meandered or not, flowing into or out of an inclosed deer farm, and of a swampy, marshy or boggy character and not navigable in fact at all times of the year by ordinary boats or pleasure craft, and which are not of any substantial beneficial use to the public, shall not be considered navigable so as to prevent erection and maintenance over them, of the type of fence prescribed and permitted by this section.
29.578(1m)
(1m) This section does not apply to deer of the genus dama, cervus or rangifer.
29.578(2)
(2) Such owner or lessee desiring to establish, operate and maintain a deer farm in conformity with this section shall file with the department a verified declaration, describing the lands which such applicant for a license desires to use for the purpose of breeding and propagating deer and setting forth also the title or leasehold of the applicant and the number of acres embraced in said tract.
29.578(3)
(3) Upon the filing of such declaration the department shall forthwith investigate the same and may require the applicant to produce satisfactory evidence of the facts therein stated. Upon receipt of such declaration the department shall determine as near as possible the number of deer on such lands. The necessary expenses of such investigation shall be paid by the licensee.
29.578(4)
(4) The licensee shall pay to the department $25 for each deer so found on such lands. When such payment has been made and the license issued, the licensee shall become the owner of all deer on said lands and of all their offspring. The licensee shall have the right to manage and control said lands and the deer thereon, to kill the deer, subject to
s. 29.245, and to sell the deer as provided by this section. If upon examination it shall appear that the applicant is the owner or lessee of said lands, and that the applicant intends in good faith to establish, operate and maintain a deer farm, the department may inform the applicant that as soon as the applicant has built a suitable deer fence around the area to be included within the license, it will issue the same. Said deer-tight fence shall be built in accordance with specifications prescribed by the department; provided, the department may issue a license for such deer farms heretofore established if the fence actually inclosing said farm is in fact sufficient to hold deer therein. After the complete installation of such fence and after the department has satisfied itself that it is satisfactory and complies with the law, it may issue a license to the applicant describing such lands, and certifying that the licensee is lawfully entitled to use the same for the breeding, propagating, killing and selling of deer thereon according to this section.
29.578(5)
(5) The deer farm license shall be renewed each year if the licensee has not violated any of the provisions under which it was granted.
29.578(6)
(6) Such license shall be prima facie evidence in all courts and proceedings of the lawful right of the licensee therein named or the licensee's successors or assigns, for the term of the license, to establish and operate a deer farm upon said premises, and shall entitle the licensee therein named or the licensee's successors or assigns, to the exclusive right for and during said term to breed and propagate deer thereon, and to the exclusive and sole ownership of any property in all deer caught or taken therefrom.
29.578(7)
(7) Deer on a deer farm shall be killed only by the licensee or bona fide regular employes except that on licensed deer farms, not less than 10 acres in area, deer may be killed by persons expressly authorized by the licensee who are otherwise qualified under this chapter to hunt deer except that no person hunting upon a licensed deer farm shall be required to hold a hunting license for deer; and all such deer killed shall be distinctly tagged with a tag to be furnished by the department to the licensee at cost not exceeding 5 cents each. The licensee shall pay to the department $1 for each deer so killed. Before any deer on a licensed deer farm shall be killed, the licensee shall notify the department or one of its representatives in advance of the taking of such deer, and the department or its representatives shall make acknowledgment of receipt of said notice and such acknowledgment when received by the licensee shall be authority for taking deer. The department or any of its duly authorized representatives may be present while the taking of such deer is in progress.
29.578(8)
(8) After a deer is so killed and tagged the entire carcass only shall be sold and transported, except as provided in
sub. (14). The tag must remain on the carcass while in transit. A deer farm tag may be removed from a gutted carcass at the time of butchering, but the person who killed or obtained the deer shall retain the tag until the meat is consumed.
29.578(9)
(9) Such licensee may sell and transport live deer providing that the department or one of its representatives be notified in advance of the shipment of such deer, and the department or its representatives shall make acknowledgment of receipt of said notice and such acknowledgment when received by the licensee shall be the licensee's authority for shipping deer. The licensee shall pay to the department $1 for each live deer sold, and each crate or conveyance carrying such live deer must have a special tag or tags attached thereto for each live deer transported therein, showing that it is a deer from a deer farm. The data on such tag or tags shall be entered in ink or indelible pencil and such tag or tags shall be retained by the purchaser of said live deer. Such tags shall be furnished by the department, its wardens or agents.
29.578(10)
(10) Any person other than the licensee or the licensee's employes who shall hunt or trap deer upon any lands described in any such license shall be liable to the licensee in the sum of $100 in addition to all damage which the person may do to said farm or to the deer and property thereon, but all actions for such trespass shall be brought by such licensee.
29.578(11)
(11) Each license shall be accepted by the licensee upon the condition that the licensee will comply with this section and with all provisions of law and that the licensee will honestly operate said deer farm for the purpose of propagating deer; that the title to the deer in the inclosure for which a license has been granted and for which the applicant has paid the state at the rate of $25 per deer, shall be conditional upon the applicant and licensee honestly and fairly complying with this section and provisions of law relating to the operation of deer farms; and in the action to revoke the license of said licensee, or to establish the licensee's unfitness to further operate said deer farm, the court, in the judgment, in the event it is determined that the applicant and licensee has violated this section and the provisions of law relating to the operation of deer farms, shall provide that the title to all of the deer within said inclosure together with all of the increase therefrom be forfeited to the state; that the said tract of land shall not be used for a deer farm for a period of 5 years and until a new license therefor, after said 5 years, has been issued by the department as provided in this section; that the department shall within 30 days of the notice of entry of judgment enter upon said tract and open the said fences in such a manner as to give the inclosed animals free egress and may drive the said animals out of the inclosure if in the opinion of the department it is for the best interests of the state; said lands for which said license has been forfeited may be used by the owner thereof for all lawful purposes except the propagating of deer during said time, and during said 5 year period said lands shall be a sanctuary and no hunting or trapping of any kind or character shall be practiced therein or thereon. The department shall in such event duly post notices thereof at intervals of 10 rods around the entire tract.
29.578(12)
(12) On or before January 1 of each year, each such licensee shall make a report to the department, covering the period from January 1 to December 31 of the previous year, upon blanks furnished by the department, stating the number of deer killed and sold and live deer sold during said period, the names and addresses of the persons to whom the same were sold and the dates of shipment.
29.578(13)
(13) The department or its wardens shall have the right and power to inspect such deer farms or the books of such deer farms at any and all times when they may think the need requires it.
29.578(14)(a)(a) No person may barter, sell or otherwise deal in the carcasses of deer taken from a deer farm unless the person obtains a deer farm sales license from the department. Each carcass of this type of deer that is sold by a person under this license is required to have a distinctive tag attached to it. The department shall issue these deer farm sales tags.
29.578(14)(am)
(am) The department may issue special retail deer sale permits authorizing a person to retail a venison in the carcass from a deer lawfully killed under this section to any retailer of meats.
29.578(14)(b)
(b) Any person may serve venison obtained from a deer farm licensed under this section if the person has a venison serving permit from the department. The application for this permit shall be in the form and include the information the department requires. If the department after investigation is satisfied that the application is satisfactory it shall issue a venison serving permit conditioned as follows:
29.578(14)(b)2.
2. It shall be exhibited in a conspicuous place in the premises where such venison is retained and served.
29.578(14)(b)3.
3. It shall contain the name and address of the applicant together with the name and address of the premises where the venison will be retained and served, together with the source of the venison, the sex, approximate weight and deer farm tag numbers of the carcass. The deer farm tag may be removed from a gutted carcass at the time of butchering, but the person who killed or obtained the deer shall retain the tag until the venison is consumed.
29.578(14)(b)4.
4. The permittee agrees to record immediately upon possession all additional venison, purchased, possessed or served during the permit period in the space provided therefor on the permit.
29.578(14)(b)5.
5. The permittee agrees that the department or its wardens shall have the right to inspect the premises where such venison is retained or served.
29.578(14)(c)
(c) Each permittee under
par. (b) shall file a verified report to the department within 30 days after the expiration of the permit containing such information regarding the operations under the permit as the department requires on forms furnished by the department.
29.578(15)
(15) Any person who hunts within the enclosure of a deer farm without the permission of the owner or who otherwise intentionally or negligently violates this section shall be fined not more than $200 or imprisoned not more than 90 days, or both.
29.578(16)
(16) The department may sell to licensees under this section, for propagating purposes, fawns and deer at a price to be fixed by the department not exceeding $25 each. The department shall make orders and promulgate rules under this section to encourage the industry.
29.578 AnnotationApplicability of animal regulatory statutes to game farm operators discussed.
72 Atty. Gen. 43.
29.579
29.579
Domestic fur-bearing animal farms. The breeding, raising and producing in captivity, and the marketing, by the producer, of foxes, fitch, nutria, marten, fisher, mink, chinchilla, rabbit or caracul, as live animals, or as animal pelts or carcasses shall be deemed an agricultural pursuit, and all such animals so raised in captivity shall be deemed domestic animals, subject to all the laws of the state with reference to possession, ownership and taxation as are at any time applicable to domestic animals. All persons engaged in the foregoing activities are farmers and engaged in farming for all statutory purposes.
29.583
29.583
Disposal of escaped deer. 29.583(1)
(1) The department may seize and dispose of or may authorize the disposal of any deer that has escaped from land licensed under
s. 29.574 or
29.578 or owned by a person registered under
s. 95.55 if the escaped deer has traveled more than 3 miles from the land or if the licensee or person has not had the deer returned to the land within 72 hours of the discovery of the escape.
29.583(2)
(2) Notwithstanding
sub. (1), the department of natural resources may dispose of the deer immediately if the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection determines that the deer poses a risk to public safety or to the health of other domestic or wild animals.
29.583 History
History: 1991 a. 269;
1995 a. 79.
29.585
29.585
Wildlife exhibit licenses. 29.585(1)
(1) The department may grant licenses for wildlife exhibits which are defined as any place where one or more live wild animals are kept in captivity for the purpose of exhibition or for advertising purposes. The form of application and license shall be prescribed by the department.
29.585(2)(a)(a) In this section, "wild animal" means any mammal, fish or bird of a wild nature as distinguished from domestic animals under the common law or under the statutes whether or not the mammal, fish or bird was bred or reared in captivity, but does not include deer of the genus dama, cervus or rangifer.
29.585(2)(b)
(b) "Wildlife exhibit" does not include the exhibition of any live wild animal by any educational institution, state department, public zoo, park or garden, circus or theatrical exhibition or any such exhibition sponsored by any organization with the approval of the department.
29.585(3)
(3) No wildlife exhibition license shall be granted by the department until it is satisfied that the provisions for housing and caring for such wild animals and for protecting the public are proper and adequate and in accordance with the standards therefor established by the department.
29.585(4)
(4) The department shall promulgate and enforce rules for the housing, care, treatment, feeding and sanitation of wild animals kept in wildlife exhibits and for the protection of the public from injury by the wild animals.
29.585(5)
(5) No person may keep any live wild animal in captivity for the purpose of exhibition or for advertising purposes or have any wild animal in his or her custody or under his or her control for such purpose, unless a wildlife exhibit license is issued to the person by the department. A wildlife exhibit license is required in addition to any game bird and animal farm or fur farm license or deer farm license under
s. 29.578 that is required for the possession, breeding, propagating or dealing of these wild animals if these farms are wildlife exhibits as defined under
sub. (1).
29.585(6)
(6) Each licensee shall file an annual, verified report with the department within 30 days after the expiration of such license containing such information on the operation of the wildlife exhibit as the department may require and on forms furnished by the department.
29.586
29.586
Humane, adequate and sanitary care of wild animals. 29.586(1)(1) The department has the authority to examine all lands, together with buildings, licensed as game bird and animal farms, deer farms or fur farms to determine that all wild animals held in captivity on such licensed farms are treated in a humane manner and confined under sanitary conditions with proper and adequate housing, care and food.
29.586(2)
(2) The department may order any licensee to comply with standards prescribed in such order for the housing, care, treatment, feeding and sanitation of wild animals held in captivity by the licensee.
29.586(3)
(3) Any such licensee who fails to comply with such order of the department within 10 days of its issuance will be subject to penalties provided in
s. 29.99 (4).
29.586(4)
(4) This section does not apply to farm-raised deer.
29.586 History
History: 1975 c. 365 s.
62;
1995 a. 79.
29.59
29.59
Removal of wild animals. 29.59(1)
(1)
Definitions. In this section:
29.59(1)(a)
(a) "Damage" means harm to forest products; streams; roads; dams; buildings; orchards; apiaries; livestock; and commercial agricultural crops, including Christmas trees and nursery stock.
29.59(1)(b)
(b) "Daylight hours" means the time from one hour before sunrise until one hour after sunset.
29.59(1)(c)
(c) "Private property holder" means an owner, lessee or occupant of private property.
29.59(1)(d)
(d) "Removal activity" means removing or authorizing the removal of a wild animal that is causing damage or that is causing a nuisance or the removal of a structure of a wild animal that is causing damage or that is causing a nuisance.
29.59(1)(e)
(e) "Remove" means capture, shoot, set a trap for, relocate, or otherwise destroy or dispose of.
29.59(1)(f)
(f) Notwithstanding
s. 29.01 (14), "wild animal" means any undomesticated mammal or bird, but does not include farm-raised deer.
29.59(2)
(2) Department authority. The department may remove or authorize the removal of all of the following:
29.59(2)(a)
(a) A wild animal that is causing damage or that is causing a nuisance.
29.59(2)(b)
(b) A structure of a wild animal that is causing damage or that is causing a nuisance.
29.59(3)(a)(a) Within 48 hours after receipt of a written complaint from a person who owns, leases or occupies property on which a wild animal or a structure of a wild animal is allegedly causing damage, the department shall both investigate the complaint and determine whether or not to authorize removal.
29.59(3)(b)
(b) The department may remove or authorize removal of the wild animal or the structure of the wild animal if it finds that the wild animal or the structure is causing damage on the property.
29.59(3)(c)
(c) A person who owns, leases or occupies property outside an incorporated municipality on which a wild animal or a structure of a wild animal is allegedly causing damage and who has made a complaint under
par. (a), may remove the wild animal or the structure during daylight hours if all of the following conditions apply:
29.59(3)(c)1.
1. The department has failed, within 48 hours after the receipt of the complaint, to investigate the complaint and to determine whether or not to authorize removal.
29.59(3)(d)
(d) A person who owns, leases or occupies property located within an incorporated municipality on which a wild animal or the structure of a wild animal is allegedly causing damage may capture and relocate the wild animal or may relocate its structure if the person has made a complaint under
par. (a) and all the conditions under
par. (c) 1. to
3. apply.
29.59(4)(a)(a) Upon the receipt of a complaint from a person who owns, leases or occupies property on which a wild animal or a structure is allegedly causing a nuisance, the department may investigate the complaint.
29.59(4)(b)
(b) The department may remove or authorize the removal of the wild animal or the structure of a wild animal if it finds that the wild animal or the structure is causing a nuisance on the property.
29.59(4m)
(4m) Hunting allowed. If the department removes or authorizes the removal of a wild animal or the structure of a wild animal under
sub. (3) (b), the person who owns, leases or occupies the property on which the damage occurred shall open the property to others for hunting and trapping for one year beginning on the date on which the removal activity started unless hunting is prohibited under this chapter, rules promulgated under this chapter or any municipal ordinance.
29.59(5)(a)(a) The department may refuse to investigate under
sub. (3) (a) if the person making the complaint refuses to participate in any available wildlife damage abatement program administered under
s. 29.598 or refuses to follow reasonable abatement measures recommended by the department or by the county in which the property is located if the county participates in a wildlife damage abatement program.
29.59(5)(b)
(b) Before taking action under
sub. (3) (b) or
(4), the department may require the person making the complaint to participate in any available wildlife damage abatement program administered under
s. 29.598 or to follow reasonable abatement measures recommended by the department.
29.59(6)
(6) Owner liability for beaver damage. A person who owns, leases or occupies property on which a beaver or a beaver structure is causing damage and who fails or refuses to give consent to the department to remove the beaver or the structure is liable for any damage caused by the beaver or the structure to public property or the property of others.
29.59(7)
(7) No duty; immunity from liability. 29.59(7)(a)(a) Except as provided in
par. (d), no private property holder and no officer, employe or agent of a property holder owes any of the following duties to any person who enters the private property holder's property solely to engage in a removal activity:
29.59(7)(a)1.
1. A duty to keep the property safe for removal activities.
29.59(7)(a)3.
3. A duty to give warning of an unsafe condition, use or activity on the property.
29.59(7)(b)
(b) Except as provided in
par. (d), no private property holder and no officer, employe or agent of a private property holder is liable for any of the following injuries that occur on the private property holder's property:
29.59(7)(b)1.
1. An injury to a person engaging in a removal activity.
29.59(7)(b)2.
2. An injury caused by a person engaging in a removal activity.
29.59(7)(c)
(c) Except as provided in
par. (d), nothing in this subsection,
s. 101.11 or in the common law attractive nuisance doctrine creates any duty of care or ground of liability toward any person who uses private property holder's property for a removal activity.
29.59(7)(d)
(d) Paragraphs (a) to
(c) do not apply if any of the following conditions exist:
29.59(7)(d)1.
1. An injury is caused by the malicious failure of the private property holder or an officer, employe or agent of the private property holder to warn against an unsafe condition on the property, of which the private property holder has knowledge.
29.59(7)(d)2.
2. An injury is caused by a malicious act of a private property holder or of an officer, employe or agent of a private property holder.
