Chronic Waste Disease (CWD) Affecting Tink’s
Sales
Fellow business executives, leaders, and team members,
here at Tink’s we strive to provide the best quality hunting related products
to customers who trust and support us. The recent spike of Chronic Waste
Disease (CWD) being detected has caused some concern for future operations of
our corporation. I propose that we identify some problematic situations that
are and will occur when it comes to sales and manufacturing. There are three
main issues that will be addressed which I believe will ensure Tink’s success.
First, we must prevent a decline in sales of deer
urine products because of state bans. Second, forecasting shows that CWD will
continue spreading causing states to ban Tink’s products, which will lead to
massive revenue loss if not address immediately. The third issue is ensuring
that our synthetic deer urine is as good of quality and effective as our real
deer urine until pure deer urine is proven safe and legal to use.
After much analysis and thought the
solution has become clearer and I want to include everyone in what the future
looks like for us here at Tink’s. Also after reviewing this internal report I
ask that everyone act upon two things. First, please keep the upcoming changes
and products within the company as we have continued to do. Second, please feel
free to submit comment cards and ideas that will benefit the company. If your
idea is selected you will be accredited and compensated appropriately. To ensure the success of Tink’s keeps our revenue where we
want it; we need to implement that deer urine suppliers conduct CWD testing, forecast
future sales products to meet state guidelines, and develop a high quality
synthetic deer urine.
Please be reassured that it is not
the intention of Tink’s, the CEO, or executive leadership to fire, lay off, or
terminate anyone or their position. This process will rely heavily upon the
entire team to work together to meet the specific goal of growing this company.
As the company grows, our team will grow, and our wages will grow. That is the
ultimate goal; to benefit the entire Tink’s family while producing eco and
animal safe products.
So why is the deer urine in our product so risky? What is
the concern and why is it effecting our business? Remember that if the deer
population is drastically reduced it creates a snowball effect that lands Tink’s
in the black when it comes to revenue. Less deer equals less deer allowed to be
killed which equates to fewer hunters buying our products. Again, why is deer
urine so risky?
“To
make these commercial scents, urine from captive elk and/or deer kept outside
of Virginia is collected over a grate system that does not prevent
contamination from either feces or saliva. The “urine” product is not treated
chemically or with heat to kill the infectious proteins because these
treatments would also secondarily destroy the desired scent characteristics.
The infectious proteins causing CWD are extremely resistant to degradation and
may persist in the environment for years in contaminated soil, thereby posing a
disease transmission risk to deer for extended lengths of time. Additionally,
many of the facilities are located in areas or states with CWD. Deer in
Virginia that taste or sniff these products may actually be exposing themselves
to CWD harbored by deer living hundreds of miles away that were used to collect
the infected urine (Virginia Department of Fame and Inland
Fisheries, 2015).”
Before further reviewing any facts and resources
associated with CWD the guidance for all employees official viewpoint if
questioned is as follows. Tink’s would like to see scientific evidence that the
spread of CWD is related to urine and our products. However, we do support any
conservation efforts to reduce the disease and we will ensure to do our part in
adhering to all state laws. It is the belief of this company that CWD is not
being spread by our products nor the any other infectious disease or hazard
that would containment the environment or wildlife population.
CWD
is continuing to spread according to not only professionals but testing
results. Many states this year have banned deer lures and many more are closing
in on the same conclusion. Since the disease will not disappear anytime soon we
must take precautions to ensure our Tink’s products do not either. We must look
at stopping the manufacturing of real deer urine in the states that have banned
the product to save on costs all the way around such as transportation,
bottling, and marketing. The shift will allow Tink’s to redirect funds to help
validate our product until it can be used in those states again legally.
“Chronic
wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, transmissible prion disease that affects
captive and free-ranging deer, elk, and moose. Although the zoonotic potential
of CWD is considered low, identification of multiple CWD strains and the
potential for agent evolution upon serial passage hinders a definitive
conclusion. Surveillance for CWD in free-ranging populations has documented a
continual geographic spread of the disease throughout North America (Bartz,
Saunders, & Bartelt-Hunt, 2012, P.1).”
Based upon the assessment
given Tink’s will receive more cooperation from CDC in validating our product
if we help to eradicate the disease rather than contribute to it. Pulling our
products off the shelves in banned states shows that Tink’s cares about
wildlife welfare and abiding by the law.
CWD knowingly has been
around since 1967 and will continue to be around. Taking the steps now to
determine products, marketing, and what we need to do to sell them in the
presence of CWD is key. Keith Warren states that in 1967 when the disease was
first discovered and people said it would be the end of an entire herd in an
area. Here we are many years later and the elk population has increased to more
than ever before and CWD is still present. (Warren, 2013)
The issue is how does
Tink’s keep selling products that we have spent money to manufacture in states that
have made them illegal. The public must be aware that the intentions of Tink’s
is not to spread CWD by manufacturing and selling our products. Greg Stewart,
D.V.M PhD of Southern Veterinary Services, Inc states “CWD is a political
disease more than anything else.(Warren, 2013)” With this type of information
being what we at Tink’s believe to be true is being told to the public we still
have to be cautious and political. Disassociating our product with CWD but
mandating our deer urine suppliers to conduct testing will do so.
Forecasting the continued
problems that CWD will cause will require Tink’s to partner with the very best
and utmost professional personnel to cement the future of this company. Being
upfront, honest, and loyal to our suppliers will ensure their continued
business with our great company and also will contribute to their willingness
to conduct new mandating testing we will require.
“As of September 2015, Virginia has
detected ten CWD-positive white-tailed deer. CWD has been found in 23 states
and 2 Canadian provinces. Effective fall 2015, the CWD Containment Area now
includes all of Frederick, Clarke, Shenandoah, and Warren counties. All hunters
who harvest deer within the new CA on the first two Saturdays of the general
firearms season (November 14th and 21st) must bring their deer to a CWD check
station for testing. Please see links below for check station locations. It is
now illegal to possess or use deer scents/lures that contain natural deer urine
or other bodily fluids while taking, attempting to take, attracting, or
scouting wildlife in Virginia. (Virginia Department of Fame and Inland
Fisheries, 2015)”
As
seen from the above excerpt CWD is a very serious issue that is affecting the
local area. This is why it is important that the manufacturing of synthetic
deer urine is a must until the problem can be corrected. There are currently
many bottles of pure deer urine setting on the shelves of local and major chain
sporting goods stores because of the new state law. Unfortunately, they will
remain there until the ban is lifted.
Currently our synthetic
deer urine just released to the market this will sell based off the legal
requirements in certain states but that should not be our goal. The synthetic
urine is not potent enough and I am afraid will not stand the test of time if
not reexamined. We must partner with great scientist for testing and chemical
comparison of natural deer urine against our synthetic deer urine. Although
chemically the composition may be different a formula to replicate the natural
deer urine must be extremely close. This means field tests must be executed and
a comparative analysis completed to determine what will actually work and draw
deer in.
“Computer simulation was used to
illustrate how spatial aggregation in disease prevalence and sampling effort
can reduce the probability of detecting CWD from the idealized situation where
CWD is randomly distributed and is randomly sampled. Specifically, they
examined how the probability of detecting at least one CWD-positive individual
from hunter-harvested animals is affected by sample size and spatial
autocorrelation in sampling effort. Based on current understanding of CWD
distribution in Wisconsin, they assumed CWD prevalence was greatest in a
disease cluster at the center of the landscape, and declined with distance from
the center of the cluster (National Wildlife and Health Center, 2012, Pg.
13-14)”
The importance of
understanding the testing area and subjects are key to Tink’s in every aspect
of the business. Understanding CWD results, spatial sampling, and simulation
all plays a role in how we test to prove that CWD does not exist and also that
our synthetic brand has not contributing factors of disease to the wildlife.
CDC approval throughout our processing of natural and synthetic manufacturing
will only be remotely possible if we mirror testing of agencies discovering
CWD. Anticipating our opposition is the only way to win the war. Our synthetic
brand must pass only three true tests; the CDC’s approval to not damage
wildlife, the deer’s nose, and last but most important, the approval of the
consumer.
It will be vital for a
few steps to be taken to ensure expenditures do not put Tink’s into the black.
We must stop the future shipping of real deer urine to those states that have
banned the use of the product. We will only market our synthetic products which
will save on materials, man hours, and allow funds to be redirected. When the
synthetic urine is shipped out to the distributors the shipping personnel will
acquire back the pure deer urine to be redistributed to states where it is
legal for use. This way no additional expenses are wasted in transportation and
the pure deer urine can still be sold.
The second step is begin
proving our products do not contain deer urine. This can happen in many
different ways but the most cost effective and easiest method for Tink’s is to
require deer farmers to have the urine tested prior to being shipped to Tink’s.
The cost of deer urine will go up, however; it will still be cost beneficial
because Tink’s will not be responsible for the man hours, additional employees,
insurance coverage, and facilities to house the testing. The farmer will be
required to submit all testing documents clearing the urine of CWD when
shipped.
The third and final step
is to conduct field trials with the synthetic deer lures by video and make them
available to the public. The public needs to see the product in action and how
it works. It must closely chemically match actually deer urine. This will cause
some up front expenses but will pay off on the back end. The biggest upside to
this is, if a high quality product is produced and works as well as real deer
urine it may be cheaper to manufacture than real deer urine. If so, not only
will we no longer have to worry about CWD affecting our company but will
increase our profit margins.
In conclusion the
benefits for all recommended forms of actions not only ensures Tink’s and our
employees our keeping cost low, jobs secure, and employee pay competitive but
reduces the spread of CWD. We will be able to maintain revenue, maintain the
help and support of the CDC and government, but most importantly keep the
respect of our loyal customers who depend on Tank’s for quality products.
References
Bartz, J. C., Saunders, S. E., & Bartelt-Hunt, S. L.
(2012). Occurrence, Transmission, and Zoonotic Potential of Chronic Wasting
Disease. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 18(3), 369.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.3201/eid1803.110685
Keith
Warren. (2013, April 26). Deer and
Wildlife Stories. Documentary on Chronic Wasting Disease | Deer &
Wildlife Stories Special Edition [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ltc3dNsPk
National
Wildlife and Health Center (2012).
Enhanced Surveillance Strategies for Detecting and Monitoring Chronic
Wasting Disease in Free-Ranging Cervids. Retrieved from
http://forest.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/u4/CWD%20surveillance%20Walsh%20et%20al%202012.pdf
Virginia Department of Fame and Inland Fisheries. (2015). Chronic Wasting
Disease. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/
Virginia
Department of Fame and Inland Fisheries.. (2015). Natural Deer Urine Attractants Illegal in Virginia. Retrieved
September 27, 2015, from
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/natural-deer-urine-attractants-illegal-in-virginia.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment