On what conservation officer Tony Grabowski calls the sadest day in his 31-year career, officials from the territorial wildlife branch killed 51 reindeer inside a pen at Mile 10 of the Mayo Road on Saturday.

Grabowski and other officials with the Department of Environment held a press conference this morning to explain the decision to eliminate the entire herd. The animals had been removed in late March from the Northern Splendour Reindeer Farm, owned by Tim and Stella Gregory, north of Whitehorse.

The decision to shoot the entire herd came last week after the department had received confirmation that three out of three animals culled from the herd weeks earlier for various reasons had tested positive for Johne's disease.

Grabowski said the decision was made in concert with local veterinarian Rick Brown of Whitehorse, veterinarian and regional biologist Michelle Oakley of Haines Junction, a veterinary specialist from B.C. and a professor of veterinary medicine from the University of Saskatchewan.

All four agreed the wisest course of action was killing the entire herd, Grabowski said.

'I would like to start by saying the events of Saturday, May 21, were difficult, arduous and most distressing,' Grabowski said to open this morning's press conference.

He said for 31 years, he has worked at his job of protecting wildlife through the enforcement of regulations that are in place for that purpose.

Never has he had to deal with this aspect of his job, that being the removal of diseased animals that are a threat to wild populations, he said.

'I can honestly tell you it was the saddest day of my career, and it is one that I am not going to soon forget.... What took place on Saturday was in the interest of the greater public at large, and in the interest of the local indigenous wildlife.'

At about 5 a.m. Saturday, a crew of 12 staff from the Department of the Environment, including deputy minister Edward Huebert, arrived at the pen site on the Mayo Road.

Philip Merchant, a wildlife technician and animal health officer for the territory, used a .22 magnum to shoot the animals in the head.

Five were initially shot in the larger 3.2-hectare (eight-acre) pen, to begin the process. Groups of 12 or so were then herded into a smaller pen measuring some 30 metres by eight metres, and shot one at a time.

A variety of samples were taken from each animal carcass for testing. Each carcass was also decapitated, as the head is required to test animals for chronic wasting disease.

The method of shooting the animal in the head and brain is in keeping with federal protocol established by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as the quickest and most humane method of killing reindeer and the like, Grabowski explained.

The carcasses were buried in the Braeburn landfill, and covered with no fewer than two metres of dirt, in keeping with federal guidelines.

The Gregorys, however, don't believe there was any need to put the herd down. They argued the positive tests the government is so quick to point to were likely a common antigen that can show up with the spring migration of bird carriers but disappears over time.

Had the government followed standard procedure and protocol, as it did with animals at its newly-purchased Yukon Wildlife Preserve, it would have retested the animals in 60 to 90 days, at which time the test could quite likely have been negative, the Gregorys maintained this morning.

They said a second follow-up test 60 to 90 days after that would have reaffirmed a negative result.

There was absolutely no reason to kill the reindeer, said an emotional Stella Gregory.

'They could have done the test, they could have waited and seen if the antigen would have stayed in system, which they did not,' she told reporters during a press conference on her lunch break from work. 'There were other ways they could have handled it.'

The Gregorys emphasized the government did not slaughter all the animals at its wildlife preserve when the problem was detected.

The order was signed by Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Archie Lang, who has partial responsibiliy for the Animal Welfare Act.

The Gregorys remain adamant the slaughter was nothing more than an extension of the Yukon Party's political agenda to eradicate reindeer farming in the Yukon, or any game farming.

The Yukon Party, said Tim, refused to feed the animals while they were on the Gregorys' farm so they could force the situation, seize the animals and then do whatever they wanted with them.

'This has been their intent for 18 years, but they were not sure how to go about getting rid of the reindeer and stop game farming,' he said.

The fight over the herd dates back two years ago, when the Yukon Act was changed to permit the transfer of federal authority over the Yukon's natural resources to the Yukon.

Reindeer, however, were left out in the definition of a domestic animal, and therefore were regarded as wildlife.

Under the act, Yukoners cannot own wildlife. The matter came to a head when the Gregorys were refused a permit to sell reindeer to another Yukon game farm.

There's no question, said Tim, that the lack of provision for reindeer in the Yukon Act was intentional.

The Gregorys have been unable to sell any animals, and eventually convince the government to pay for the cost of feed because they could no longer afford to feed them with no revenue coming in.

The government agreed, but late last year said it would no longer pay for feed, forcing the Gregorys to threaten to turn them loose rather than watch them starve.

The government then seized the animals in late March.

But for two years, the Gregorys pointed out, the reindeer were technically the government's property, yet it did nothing in terms of regular vet checks.

During their many years of business, the Gregorys had the animals checked annually to maintain their ability to export to southern Canada and the U.S.

Stella explained the four animal carcasses sent out for testing were put down upon her recommendation because they had natural health problems.

She said she and her husband would have done it sooner, but they didn't own the animals, and it was only after the government seized the reindeer that they recommended those four be put down.

But none of the other animals shows any signs of weakening, diarrhea nor general deteoriation.

However, the Haines Junction regional biologist said this morning with three out of the first three testing positive, she'd be surprised if there were any more than two or three members of the herd that weren't infected.

Oakley said the cost to test and retest, and to move the animals to sterile pasture each time would be astronomical, and evidence suggests the result would have been the same.

Science indicates Johnes disease is passed through fecal matter that can contaminate large pastures.

Steps will be taken to make the 3.2-hectare pen the government was renting for $1,500 a month is not used by other animals for a year.

Whether the government will have to pay the going rate regardless if there are no animals is a matter up for discussion, it was said this morning.

The cost of feeding the herd was about $1,000 a month, said the department spokesman.

Merchant said this case and the case of 22 animals killed in the last year at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve are the only two confirmed cases of Johnes disease in the Yukon.

He did note, however, that there is information floating around that there may be another case. However, because of confidential provisions between veterinarians and farmers, they can't find out much more.

Officials also defended against the criticism from the Gregorys and NDP that the government had done this in complete secrecy to avoid public scrutiny of the proposal.

The secrecy, said Merchant, was required to ensure nobody would attempt to free the animals into the wild, thinking that they'd be doing the right thing.

Stella, however, said it was fortunate she found out the plans beforehand. Otherwise, she could have showed up there Saturday morning to feed the animals with her grandchildren and been caught totally by surprise by what was going on.

'I mean, it was a blood bath,' she said.

Grabowski explained he was finding it frustrating searching for a new home for the herd because of different provincial and territorial import and export policies. In this case, those policies did what they were meant to do, he said.

Jim Haney, a spokesman for the Yukon Fish and Game Association, said this morning while killing the animals was a terrible situation, it was the right thing to do to protect the safety of local caribou and other indigenous animals.

'I am sure it was terrible, especially for the Gregorys, but what else could you do?' Haney asked. 'I just keep thinking that the danger we were almost exposed to, is the big story here.'

The government has hired a private consulting firm to evaluate the value of the herd prior to Saturday and to make a recommendations to the government on what would be appropriate compensation for the Gregorys.

Environment spokesman Dennis Senger said today the government has passed on the positive test results, and that indeed the presence of Johnes disease among the herd could affect the appraised value.