(1)
Purpose: The purpose of 321 CMR
2.04 is to provide a
procedure for the salvage, disposition and utilization of deer killed by means
other than by sport hunting and to thereby eliminate or reduce the wastage of
edible meat or specimens for scientific study. No person, except as provided in
321 CMR
2.04, shall take, transport, or possess a salvageable deer as defined
in 321 CMR
2.04(2).
(2)
Definitions. For the purposes of 321 CMR
2.04, the
following words or phrases shall have the following meanings:
Approved Organization. Any non-profit
Massachusetts sportsman's club, civic organization, church, synagogue or other
religious entity, museum, natural history association, or similar non-profit
organization.
Director. The Director of the Division
of Fisheries and Wildlife, or his or her agents.
Eligible Person. The driver of the
motor vehicle which collided with a salvageable deer, or any passenger in such
vehicle, provided that such person shall be domiciled in Massachusetts.
Environmental Police Officer or
EPO. The Director of the Office of Law Enforcement,
deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of
enforcement, environmental police officers, and such other enforcement officers
of the Office of Law Enforcement as may be appointed pursuant to M.G.L. c. 21,
§ 6.
Salvage. The lawful rendering into
possession of a salvageable deer by an eligible person in accordance with
provisions of 321 CMR 2.04.
Salvageable Deer. Deer killed by
collision with a motor vehicle on a Massachusetts way, or by being seriously
injured by such collision and subsequently killed at the scene of the collision
by a law enforcement officer.
(3) Upon the killing of a salvageable deer,
an eligible person who intends to salvage the deer shall immediately, upon
taking the carcass of the deer into his or her possession, notify the Office of
Law Enforcement (1-(800) 632-8075) of such intent and shall report to said
Office his or her name and address and the date, place, and time of the killing
of the deer. In the event that the Office of Law Enforcement cannot be so
contacted, the eligible person shall immediately notify the municipal police in
which the deer was killed, or the nearest State Police Barracks, and shall
request that such police log the incident, including the name and address of
the eligible person and the date, place, and time of the killing of the
deer.
(4) Within 24 hours after the
killing of a salvageable deer, the eligible person shall transport the carcass
of the deer to an installation or field office of the Division of Fisheries and
Wildlife or of the Office of Law Enforcement, or, if so directed when reporting
as specified in 321 CMR
2.04(3), to an Environmental Police Officer at such
place and time as the EPO shall specify. The EPO or official agent in charge of
the installation or field office shall cause the deer to be tagged with an
official seal and shall complete and issue to the eligible person a permit
which shall be issued at no charge and which shall allow him or her to possess
and transport the salvageable deer. The official seal shall remain attached to
the deer carcass while the carcass is being transported and until the carcass
is butchered or otherwise prepared for food purposes. The eligible person shall
retain the permit until all edible parts of the deer shall have been
consumed.
(5) Deer or parts thereof
salvaged under provisions of 321 CMR
2.04 shall not be sold, bartered, or
exchanged for consideration, provided that nothing in 321 CMR
2.04(5) shall be
deemed to preclude the retention for personal use by an eligible person of the
head, hide, hooves, and shinbones of such salvageable deer as he shall have
been permitted to possess. In the event that the salvageable deer shall be
disposed of in accordance with 321 CMR
2.04(6)(a) to an approved organization
for a game dinner or similar purpose, it shall be understood that any charge or
fee requested by such approved organization shall be considered a donation to
the organization and not a charge or fee for the purchase of any meal
containing deer meat.
(6) In the
event that an eligible person does not desire to salvage a salvageable deer, or
if the deer is killed by a motor vehicle of which the driver and any passenger
is not an eligible person, the deer may be disposed of in the following manner:
(a) by an Environmental Police Officer, who
may dispose of the deer to any approved organization or to any person domiciled
in Massachusetts who is otherwise ineligible under provisions of 321 CMR
2.04(3), provided that any deer so disposed of shall be tagged and a permit
issued as specified in 321 CMR
2.04(4). The permit shall be issued in the name
of the approved organization or person receiving the deer and shall, if
applicable, also bear the name and address of a principal officer of the
approved organization. Deer which shall be inedible or otherwise unsuited for
salvage shall be disposed of by lawful burial or incineration or as otherwise
ordered by the Director or the Director of the Office of Law Enforcement;
or,
(b) by employees of a city or
town or of the Department of Transportation, by burial or incineration in
accordance with such permit or authorization as shall have been issued by the
Director, or by disposition to such person or approved organization as shall be
approved by the Director or an Environmental Police Officer; or,
(c) in the event that an Environmental Police
Officer shall come into possession of a deer other than a salvageable deer or a
deer which has been lawfully killed and tagged in accordance with provisions of
321 CMR
3.02(4):
Hunting and
Tagging of Deer, such EPO may dispose of the deer in accordance with
provisions of 321 CMR
2.04(6)(a).
