(a) Deer obtained from the wild under the authority of a permit or letter of authority issued pursuant to Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 43, Subchapter C, E, or R shall not be commingled with deer held in a permitted deer breeding facility.
(b) A person commits an offense if that person places or holds breeder deer in captivity at any place or in any facility for which the herd inventory on file with the department does not account for those breeder deer, except for fawn breeder deer that are not yet required to be reported to the department.
(c) No breeder deer shall be held in a trailer or other vehicle of any type except for the purpose of immediate transportation from one location to another.
(d) No person may hold more than one cervid species at any time in a deer breeding facility except as provided by §65.602(e) of this title (relating to Application and Permit Issuance), or cause or allow the interbreeding by any means of white-tailed deer and mule deer.
(e) Possession of a deer breeder's permit is not a defense to prosecution under any statute prohibiting abuse of animals.
(f) No deer breeder shall exceed the number of breeder deer allowable for the permitted facility, as specified by the department on the deer breeder's permit.
(g) This subsection does not apply to breeder deer lawfully obtained prior to June 21, 2005. Except as provided in this subsection, no person may:
  (1) possess a deer acquired from an out-of-state source; or
  (2) import or attempt to import deer from an out-of-state source.
(h) It is an offense for any person the department has authorized as a facility inspector to submit the checklist or letter of endorsement required by §65.603(a)(2) of this title (relating to Application and Permit Issuance) if the person has not personally conducted an onsite inspection at the facility.
(i) It is an offense for any person to violate or fail to comply with the provisions a disease-testing plan created under the provisions of §65.605(d) of this title (relating to Holding Facility Standards and Care of Deer).
(j) No person may clone or authorize or participate in the cloning of a white-tailed deer or mule deer unless specifically authorized to do so by a permit issued by the department under the provisions of Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 43, Subchapter C. For the purposes of this subsection, cloning is the creation or attempted creation of a white-tailed or mule deer from a single progenitor cell.
(k) Except as provided under §65.602(e) of this title, no person may possess deer, livestock, exotic livestock, or similar animals in a deer breeding facility, or allow deer, livestock, exotic livestock, or similar animals to access a deer breeding facility other than:
  (1) the deer identified in the reconciled herd inventory for the facility; and
  (2) offspring that are not required to be identified and reported to the department under the provisions of Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 43, Subchapter L.

Source Note: The provisions of this §65.611 adopted to be effective January 17, 2010, 35 TexReg 252; amended to be effective March 14, 2021, 46 TexReg 1500; amended to be effective January 18, 2024, 49 TexReg 267