atek3
Member
my favorite line:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2511505
April 16, 2004, 9:12PM
Prairie dog fans want government ban lifted
By ROBERT CROWE
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Houston pet store owner Char Close-Bunting had always seen prairie dogs in the wild while growing up in Kansas, but she never imagined she would later sell or keep the pudgy rodents as pets.
For three years, she sold about 60 prairie dogs annually at $100 each until the federal government banned their sale and trade in June after a monkeypox outbreak in humans was linked to the rodents.
"This ban is way, way, way blown out of proportion," said Close-Bunting, owner of Char's Reptile Store in the Montrose area. "Before they ban anything, I think restrictions might be better alternatives."
Close-Bunting and others who comprise a multimillion-dollar niche industry in the sale of prairie dogs want the government to lift the temporary ban.
They contend prairie dogs are scapegoats for the monkeypox outbreak. Monkeypox was contained, they said, and prairie dogs aren't the original source of the disease's virus.
Last spring, a Gambian rat at an Illinois pet store infected some prairie dogs with monkeypox, and those prairie dogs infected people who bought them at Midwest pet stores. The sick rat was imported from Ghana.
At least seven people were hospitalized with monkeypox last summer, but no one died. All 37 confirmed cases were recorded between May and June 2003. Monkeypox symptoms include fever, skin lesions, chills, sweats and headaches.
"Everyone's blaming prairie dogs when monkeypox is an African disease found in monkeys. It's not prairie dog pox," said Lynda Watson, the "prairie dog lady" of Lubbock, who said she had captured and sold about 2,500 prairie dogs annually before the monkeypox scare.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said the ban is necessary to stop monkeypox from spreading like the West Nile virus.
The agencies said in November they are establishing new restrictions on the import, capture and sale of African rodents and prairie dogs. Monday is the deadline to submit public comments.
"We do not have a timetable for when a decision will be made on extending or ending the prohibition," said Rae Jones, an FDA spokeswoman.
Mark Slifka, a scientist with Oregon Health and Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, said monkeypox, though contained, is a lethal and promiscuous virus that can infect many species.
"We are extremely lucky that things hadn't been worse," Slifka said.
Close-Bunting and Cliff Schoeffler, a Houston-area pet distributor, said most pet stores and distributors separate species and quarantine animals to prevent the spread of disease.
"I don't want my animals getting sick, and I don't want you to buy a sick animal," Close-Bunting said.
Prairie dogs are found in the wild in large colonies throughout West Texas, Colorado and other Plains states. About 30,000 were sold nationally in 2001. Half were captured in Texas by trappers like Watson. Annual sales had been about $4.5 million.
Daryl Rebrovich, owner of Go 3 Pets in Spring Branch, thinks the FDA and CDC should be more concerned with banning the sale of cattle to prevent a more lethal epidemic of mad cow disease.
"Is this about public health and welfare, or about money and politics?" he asked.
Slifka said Rebrovich overlooks a major fact.
"People (in the United States) didn't come down with avian flu or the human equivalent of mad cow, but people came down with monkeypox from prairie dogs," Slifka said.
Dianne James, Web master of www.prairiedoglover.com, said CDC officials told her the agency recommended that the FDA lift the ban.
"Both (of the agencies) are waiting for the other to make a decision, but I think they're afraid to do something," said James, who has 16 prairie dogs at her Indiana home.
Christine Pearson, CDC spokeswoman, said the agency's position has not changed.
Monica Engebretson of the California-based Animal Protection Institute said the monkeypox outbreak is an example of why wild animals like prairie dogs and African rodents -- which she calls "pocket pets" -- should not be in the pet trade.
"Prairie dogs are darn cute," she said, "but any time you put a wild animal in the pet trade, it is bad news for animals."
Close-Bunting, however, sees the temporary ban as infringing on the rights of Americans to own and possess pets.
"You start taking our animals away from us, starting with the so-called exotics, and how long before it moves on down to what we consider normal pets?" she said.
I wonder if she is an NRA member too
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2511505
April 16, 2004, 9:12PM
Prairie dog fans want government ban lifted
By ROBERT CROWE
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Houston pet store owner Char Close-Bunting had always seen prairie dogs in the wild while growing up in Kansas, but she never imagined she would later sell or keep the pudgy rodents as pets.
For three years, she sold about 60 prairie dogs annually at $100 each until the federal government banned their sale and trade in June after a monkeypox outbreak in humans was linked to the rodents.
"This ban is way, way, way blown out of proportion," said Close-Bunting, owner of Char's Reptile Store in the Montrose area. "Before they ban anything, I think restrictions might be better alternatives."
Close-Bunting and others who comprise a multimillion-dollar niche industry in the sale of prairie dogs want the government to lift the temporary ban.
They contend prairie dogs are scapegoats for the monkeypox outbreak. Monkeypox was contained, they said, and prairie dogs aren't the original source of the disease's virus.
Last spring, a Gambian rat at an Illinois pet store infected some prairie dogs with monkeypox, and those prairie dogs infected people who bought them at Midwest pet stores. The sick rat was imported from Ghana.
At least seven people were hospitalized with monkeypox last summer, but no one died. All 37 confirmed cases were recorded between May and June 2003. Monkeypox symptoms include fever, skin lesions, chills, sweats and headaches.
"Everyone's blaming prairie dogs when monkeypox is an African disease found in monkeys. It's not prairie dog pox," said Lynda Watson, the "prairie dog lady" of Lubbock, who said she had captured and sold about 2,500 prairie dogs annually before the monkeypox scare.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said the ban is necessary to stop monkeypox from spreading like the West Nile virus.
The agencies said in November they are establishing new restrictions on the import, capture and sale of African rodents and prairie dogs. Monday is the deadline to submit public comments.
"We do not have a timetable for when a decision will be made on extending or ending the prohibition," said Rae Jones, an FDA spokeswoman.
Mark Slifka, a scientist with Oregon Health and Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, said monkeypox, though contained, is a lethal and promiscuous virus that can infect many species.
"We are extremely lucky that things hadn't been worse," Slifka said.
Close-Bunting and Cliff Schoeffler, a Houston-area pet distributor, said most pet stores and distributors separate species and quarantine animals to prevent the spread of disease.
"I don't want my animals getting sick, and I don't want you to buy a sick animal," Close-Bunting said.
Prairie dogs are found in the wild in large colonies throughout West Texas, Colorado and other Plains states. About 30,000 were sold nationally in 2001. Half were captured in Texas by trappers like Watson. Annual sales had been about $4.5 million.
Daryl Rebrovich, owner of Go 3 Pets in Spring Branch, thinks the FDA and CDC should be more concerned with banning the sale of cattle to prevent a more lethal epidemic of mad cow disease.
"Is this about public health and welfare, or about money and politics?" he asked.
Slifka said Rebrovich overlooks a major fact.
"People (in the United States) didn't come down with avian flu or the human equivalent of mad cow, but people came down with monkeypox from prairie dogs," Slifka said.
Dianne James, Web master of www.prairiedoglover.com, said CDC officials told her the agency recommended that the FDA lift the ban.
"Both (of the agencies) are waiting for the other to make a decision, but I think they're afraid to do something," said James, who has 16 prairie dogs at her Indiana home.
Christine Pearson, CDC spokeswoman, said the agency's position has not changed.
Monica Engebretson of the California-based Animal Protection Institute said the monkeypox outbreak is an example of why wild animals like prairie dogs and African rodents -- which she calls "pocket pets" -- should not be in the pet trade.
"Prairie dogs are darn cute," she said, "but any time you put a wild animal in the pet trade, it is bad news for animals."
Close-Bunting, however, sees the temporary ban as infringing on the rights of Americans to own and possess pets.
"You start taking our animals away from us, starting with the so-called exotics, and how long before it moves on down to what we consider normal pets?" she said.
