(1) Alternative livestock owned or transferred to any alternative livestock farm within the state of Montana must be individually identified by the method prescribed by the department.

(2) Every alternative livestock animal must be marked with a whole herd mark (herd tattoo) registered to the alternative livestock farm animal owner and placed in the location on the animal identified by the department's recorder of marks and brands.

(a) The herd tattoo placed in an animal born on or imported to the alternative livestock farm shall be that of the owner of the animal and is recognized as the original tattoo.

(b) Retattoo of an illegible tattoo shall be done by a designated agent of the department and shall be the original tattoo (herd of origin) of the animal. When an animal is retattooed, the designated agent of the department shall submit a certificate of veterinary inspection to the department documenting the retattoo of the animal and the complete animal identification, age, sex and species information.

(c) The recorded whole herd mark (herd tattoo) has all of the rights of ownership granted under 81-3-105, MCA.

(3) Under the authority of 87-4-414, MCA, each alternative livestock will be marked with a Montana official eartag issued by the department.

(a) Montana official eartags must be applied by a department-designated agent.

(b) USDA official eartags and Montana official eartags are nontransferable and can only be removed from an alternative livestock animal by a department-designated agent.

(c) Montana official eartags that are lost from alternative livestock must be surrendered to a department-designated agent or the department as soon as possible after the retrieval of the tag.

(d) All animal identification tags retrieved from alternative livestock by the department-designated agent shall be submitted to the department Helena office.

(4) The unauthorized removal of a Montana official eartag or USDA official eartag, or the alteration or reuse of tags shall constitute a violation of this rule.

(5) The alteration of a whole herd mark except as outlined in (2)(b) of this rule shall constitute a violation of this rule and 81-3-221, MCA.