(1) Game farm animals owned or transferred to any game farm within the state of Montana must be individually identified by the method prescribed by the department.

(2) Every game farm animal must be marked with a whole herd mark (herd tattoo) registered to the game 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 game 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 game farm animal will be marked with a Montana official ear tag issued by the department.

(a) Montana official ear tags must be applied by a department designated agent.

(b) USDA official ear tags and Montana official ear tags are non-transferable and can only be removed from a game farm animal by a department designated agent.

(c) Montana official ear tags that are lost from a game farm animal 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 game farm animals by the department designated agent shall be submitted to the department Helena office.

(4) The unauthorized removal of a Montana official ear tag or USDA official ear tag, 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.