AR-News: Support a Ban on the Sale of "Pocket Pets" and Primates

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From: primfocus at waste.org

http://www.peta.com/alert/automation/AlertItem.asp?id=763

Support a Ban on the Sale of "Pocket Pets" and Primates

UPDATE! The CDC and FDA have issued a temporary ban on the sale of prairie
dogs and Gambian rats. Please urge these agencies to make this ban permanent
and to include in the ban all "pocket pets" and "pet" primates.

An outbreak of monkeypox, a rare but serious disease never before seen in
the Western Hemisphere, is sweeping the U.S. Dozens of people have fallen
ill from the disease, which can cause blistering rashes, sweats, fevers, and
difficulty breathing because of swollen lymph nodes. The disease has been
linked to contact with prairie dogs sold by a pet supplier in Illinois, who
contracted the disease from a giant Gambian rat imported from Africa.

In reaction to the outbreak, several states have already banned the sale and
possession of prairie dogs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have implemented an
emergency, but temporary, ban on the import and sale of prairie dogs,
African Gambian rats, and six other African rodent species. Please contact
the CDC and the FDA to ask that in order to ensure that this and similar
outbreaks are curtailed, the commerce in prairie dogs, Gambian rats, and
other "pocket pets" like hedgehogs and flying squirrels be banned. Please
also ask that "pet" primates, who can transmit herpes B, hepatitis, and
tuberculosis to humans, be banned:

Julie Louise Gerberding, Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd. N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30333
Tel.: 404-639-7000
Fax: 404-639-7111
E-Mail: jgerberding at cdc.gov

Dr. Mark B. McClellan, Commissioner
Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Ln.
Rockville, MD 20857-0001
Tel.: 301-827-2410
Fax: 301-443-3100



the wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. he is in front of it - axel munthe

"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. 
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."      Margaret Mead
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