EWA Code of Ethics
The following is the code of ethics and conduct of the Exotic Wildlife Association governing the conduct and practices of its membership regarding the keeping, capture, transportation, marketing, and harvesting/hunting of indigenous and non-indigenous hoofstock animals.
1. General
A. All members of the EWA have an obligation to report any suspected violation of this code of ethics, to the organization.
B. Any member convicted of a violation of a state or federal law involving indigenous or non-indigenous hoofstock animals may have membership in the EWA permanently or temporarily suspended, as decided by the EWA Board of Directors as advised by the EWA Ethics Committee.
C. The Board of Directors may, by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote, temporarily suspend a membership of any member under investigation for the violation of any state or federal law involving indigenous or non-indigenous hoofstock animals.
D. The Board of Directors may, by majority vote, refuse, either temporarily or permanently, membership to anyone who is or has been either under investigation or convicted of a violation of a state or federal law involving indigenous or nonindigenous hoofstock animals.
2. Care
A. All indigenous and non-indigenous hoofstock animals raised or kept for any purpose shall be maintained in an enclosed area, pasture, or structure suitable for the particular species of wildlife so raised or kept. The enclosed area, pasture, or structure shall be sufficient to prevent the escape of such animals and shall be designed to protect such animals from undue injury or abuse.
B. All animals raised or kept shall have access to adequate pasture and/or grazing lands suitable for such animals, or be provided with supplemental feed and water as required to maintain the health and vitality of all such animals so raised or kept.
C. All animals raised or kept shall be provided with appropriate veterinary services, as may be required, to maintain the general health and vitality of such animals.
D. If animals are contained behind a fence, the fencing should be of a type and quality to prevent injury to the animals, to contain the animals, and should be maintained and monitored on a regular basis.
E. Any escaped animals should be recovered as soon as possible and as per the laws of the state/country/local area.
3. Capture
A. In capturing any species of animals preparatory to transportation, marketing, or other lawful use, such capture shall be by method or methods calculated to inflict the least amount of stress on the animal species being captured.
B. Capture operations shall be conducted by persons familiar with the animals and the capture procedure being utilized, and who are qualified and competent to carry out such capture operations without inflicting undue stress or harm to the animals so captured. Animals shall not be captured or handled more often, or for longer periods, than is reasonably necessary to property manage, control, care for, or market such animals. It is the belief of the EWA membership that unnecessary capture or handling of indigenous or non-indigenous hoofstock animals is detrimental to the well being of such animal species.
4. Transportation
A. All transportation of indigenous and non-indigenous hoofstock animals or birds engaged in by or on behalf of the EWA members shall be as follows:
1) All transportation of animals shall be in vehicles, trailers, or containers, suitable in design for the transport of the specific animals being transported. It should also be constructed in a manner so as to minimize stress and possibility of injury to such animals.
2) Animals should not be consigned for transportation to any common carrier not properly equipped to transport or care for such animals during transportation.
3) Any transportation of animals must meet state and federal laws.
5. Marketing
A. It shall be unethical for any EWA member to misrepresent the age, condition, bloodline, breed or species of any animals sold or advertised for sale.
B. No EWA member shall knowingly sell any indigenous or non-indigenous hoofstock animal species to anyone not qualified to properly care for or keep such animals. Nor shall any EWA member knowingly sell such animals to any person for any unlawful purpose whatsoever.
C. No marketing method shall be used for a particular species which causes undue stress to the animal or animals so marketed, and all marketing procedures employed shall be appropriate to the particular species marketed.
6. Harvesting/Hunting
A. The EWA recognizes that management through harvesting/hunting is an appropriate means of removing excess animals; however, such harvesting/hunting shall be conducted as follows:
1) It shall be unethical to participate in any illegal taking of any animal.
2) It shall be unethical to participate in an “unfair chase.” Only fair chase hunting methods, consistent with the geographical area in which the animal is harvest/hunted, shall be deemed consistent with this Code. “Fair chase” hunting shall be defined as hunting in any area, by any method, that provides the hunted animals with a reasonable chance and opportunity to avoid being found by the hunter, or having once been found by the hunter, to escape. Additionally that provides the animal(s) a reasonable chance and opportunity to detect the hunter and, once detected, a reasonable chance and opportunity to flee.
3) EWA members shall attempt to determine the competence of the person or persons attempting to harvest/hunt any animals to properly carry out the harvesting/hunting method being employed so as to assure humane harvesting/hunting of animals. No person desiring to harvest/hunt an animal shall be allowed to do so by a method in which they are not sufficiently competent to reasonably insure a proper and humane harvest/hunt.
4) EWA members shall not misrepresent the breed or species of any animal to a person harvesting/hunting such animal.
5) Venison harvests shall not be included within the meaning of hunting; nor shall putting a wounded or sick animal out of its misery.
6) The laws of the state or nation in which the harvesting/hunting takes place will be followed.
7) Every reasonable effort will be taken to insure that the meat and byproducts of an animal harvested/hunted are not wasted.
8) The property rights and land and animal owners’ rights will always be respected and not infringed upon.
9) Safety will always be the highest priority in any situation.
7. Enforcement of Penalties for Ethics Violations
A. General
1) Any practice or procedure engaged in by any member of the EWA which is contrary to the standards set out in this Code of Ethics shall be considered in violation of the Code.
2) The EWA as provided in this section may sanction any member violating this Code of Ethics.
3) All inquiries into alleged violations of this Code of Ethics shall be conducted by the standing Ethics Committee of the EWA, appointed by the President of the EWA.
B. Procedure
1) All alleged violations of the code shall be designated “inquiries.” No action shall be taken on any inquiry until it shall be made in writing by the person alleging such violation, addressed to the Ethics Committee Chairman, Director, or Executive Officer of the EWA, and sworn to before a notary public. All inquiries will be turned over to the Chairman of the Ethics Committee and should be made within ninety (90) days of the alleged violation. The Board shall have the authority to conduct an investigation into any ethics violation that, by its very nature, would be detrimental to this association or industry, regardless of the time limit.
2) Upon receipt of a written inquiry, the chairman of the Ethics Committee shall enter the complaint in a log maintained for such purpose and mail a copy of the inquiry to the accused member.
3) The chairman of the Ethics Committee shall review each inquiry when received to determine if the facts alleged would, if true, constitute a violation of the Ethics Code. If the chairman determines that no violation is alleged, he shall present it to the next meeting of the Ethics Committee with a recommendation that the inquiry be dismissed. Dismissal of the inquiry shall be by majority vote of the members of the Ethics Committee present at a meeting as per b. 7) below.
4) If the chairman determines that a violation of the Ethics Code is alleged by the inquiry, the chairman, or a member of the Ethics Committee designated by the chairman, shall investigate the inquiry. Such investigation may be by personal interview, correspondence or such other methods as the investigator deems prudent. Any correspondence to the person accused in the inquiry shall be marked “Personal and Confidential.” Upon completion of the investigation, the investigator shall inform the chairman, who shall thereafter convene the Ethics Committee to consider the inquiry. All investigations shall be completed within thirty (30) days of the date the inquiry is received.
5) The chairman shall notify both accused member and the person making the inquiry of the date of the committee meeting when the inquiry will be considered. The notices shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested, and shall be mailed not later than twenty (20) days prior to the hearing.
6) The chairman should endeavor to have all witnesses and other relevant evident available at the time of the committee meeting.
7) Conduct of committee meetings to consider inquiries.
a) A quorum (majority of the committee) must be present in order to consider any inquiry in any manner, including hearing of evidence, discussion of the allegations, or action on the inquiry.
b) The chairman shall conduct the committee meeting. No persons other than the accused member, and his attorney, if applicable, the person initiating the inquiry, EWA attorneys, if desired by the chairman, assistant secretary, and committee members may be present during a committee meeting, except witnesses testifying to the committee may be present during their testimony only.
c) The committee shall hear first the person making the inquiry and his witnessed or supporting evidence. The accused member shall then be allowed to present all evidence he may have to the committee. Speaking at the hearing shall not be allowed by any party; however, committee members may direct questions to any witnesses.
d) After all witnesses have been heard and all evidence presented, the committee shall go into closed session to discuss the inquiry. Only committee members and the EWA attorneys, if desired by the chairman, shall be present. The committee, by majority vote of the members present (if there is a quorum) may take the following actions:
a. No action, inquiry dismissed.
b. Private reprimand of the accused member. Such private reprimand, or its existence, shall not be made public to any person except the accused member, the Ethics Committee members, the EWA Board of Directors, and the EWA attorney. Disclosure by any person to any third party of such private reprimand shall itself constitute a violation of this code.
c. Recommendation of public reprimand to the EWA Board of Directors.
d. Recommendation to the EWA Board of Directors that the accused member be expelled from the EWA.
All such recommendations shall be in writing from the chairman of the Ethics Committee to the Chairman of the EWA Board of Directors.
If the committee recommends action in c. or d. above to the EWA Board of Directors, such recommendation shall not be known to any person except the members of the Ethics Committee, the EWA Board of Directors, the accused member, and the EWA’s attorney. Disclosure of such recommendation to any person other than those set out above shall itself constitute a violation of this code.
8. Action by the Board of Directors
A. Upon receipt of a recommendation from the Ethics Committee, the chairman of the EWA Board of Directors shall call a special meeting of the board, or place the matter on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled meeting of the board. However, the board must consider all such recommendations with thirty (30) days of receipt thereof.
B. At any Board of Directors meeting which considers a recommendation from the Ethics Committee, during discussion of such recommendation, no person other than the directors, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, the EWA’s attorney, and the assistant secretary of the EWA may be present. The directors can take no action unless a quorum of the directors is present.
C. The Board of Directors, by majority vote of the directors present, may take the following actions:
1) Take no action and dismiss the inquiry.
2) Issue a public reprimand to be published in the EWA newsletter.
D. The Board of Directors, by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present, may expel a member from the EWA and cancel such member’s affiliation with the EWA. A member so expelled shall not receive a refund for all or any part of such member’s annual dues previously paid. E. Unless the Board of Directors issue a public reprimand or expels a member, no disclosure of the board’s action shall be made to any person other than those present or entitled to be present at such board meeting. Disclosure of the boards’ action shall constitute a violation of this Ethics Code.
Adopted May 12, 2006