Deadline for Illegal Deer Farms in New Brunswick Extended

New Brunswick's Department of Natural Resources is allowing over a dozen deer farmers an additional 6 months to meet new regulations that would legalize their operations.

The new regulations were supposed to go in to go into effect yesterday. But the province is extending the deadline because only 2 out of 5 farmers were prepared to apply for a permit at the deadline.

The new regulations prohibit selling deer meat, establish standards for the height of fencing that encloses a private deer herd, require ear-tagging of all the private herd for identification, require regular health inspections of the animals and prohibit the hunting of penned deer.

The regulations are aimed at protecting New Brunswick's wildlife from the spread of conditions such as chronic wasting disease.