(a) All facilities shall be subject to inspections by the department. A first-time applicant's facilities shall be inspected by the department and no permit shall be issued until the facilities are determined to satisfy all of the applicable facilities standards of this subchapter.
  (1) The department may specify individual caging requirements on a case-by-case basis.
  (2) Clean water shall be available at all times except where medical circumstances require the temporary denial of water.
  (3) Feces and waste materials shall be removed on a daily basis except for species which normally re-ingest fecal material.
  (4) Cages shall be cleaned and disinfected using non-irritating methods.
  (5) A person authorized by permit shall observe and provide care for wildlife at least once daily unless otherwise specified by the permit.
(b) White-tailed deer and mule deer held under a permit issued under this subchapter shall be confined at all times within a department-approved enclosure (indoor, outdoor, or both) that is constructed in such a fashion as to prevent both escape and contact with other deer or susceptible species as defined in Chapter 65, Subchapter B, of this title (relating to Disease Detection and Response). The department will not authorize the rehabilitation of deer by a permittee if the permittee's facility is not in compliance with this subsection.

Source Note: The provisions of this §69.49 adopted to be effective January 30, 1997, 22 TexReg 902; amended to be effective January 15, 2021, 45 TexReg 306