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Description
Until 2003, primarily black-tailed prairie dogs were collected from the wild for the exotic pet trade in Canada, the United States, Japan and Europe. They were removed from their underground burrows each spring, as young pups with a large vacuum device. They are difficult to breed in captivity, but it has been done on several occasions. Removing them from the wild was a far more common method of supplying the market demand.

They can be difficult pets to care for, requiring regular attention, and a very specific diet of grasses and hay. Each year they go into a period called rut, that can last for several months, in which their personalities can drastically change, often becoming defensive or even aggressive. Despite their needs prairie dogs are very social animals and come to almost seem like they treat humans as members of their colony, answering barks and chirps, and even coming when called by name.

In mid-2003, due to cross-contamination in a Chicago-area pet store from an unquarantined Gambian pouched rat imported from Africa, several prairie dogs in captivity acquired monkey pox, and subsequently a few humans were also infected. This led the CDC to institute an outright ban on the sale, trade, and transport of prairie dogs within the United States. The disease was never introduced to any wild populations. The European Union also banned importation of prairie dogs in response. While largely seen by exotic pet owners and vendors as unfair, the monkey pox scare was not the only zoonosis incident associated with prairie dogs. Prairie dogs are also very susceptible to bubonic plague, and several wild colonies have been wiped out by it. Also, in 2002, a large group of prairie dogs in captivity in Texas were found to have contracted tularemia. Prairie dogs are not natural carriers of any of the three diseases, but the ban is believed to be in the best interests of protecting the public and there are no intentions of ever lifting it. The prairie dog ban is frequently cited by the CDC as a successful response to the threat of zoonosis.

Prairie dogs that were in captivity at the time of the ban in 2003 are allowed to be kept under a grandfather clause, but they may not be bought, traded, or sold and transport is only permitted to and from a veterinarian under proper quarantine procedures.

Description
Until 2003, primarily black-tailed prairie dogs were collected from the wild for the exotic pet trade in Canada, the United States, Japan and Europe. They were removed from their underground burrows each spring, as young pups with a large vacuum device. They are difficult to breed in captivity, but it has been done on several occasions. Removing them from the wild was a far more common method of supplying the market demand.

They can be difficult pets to care for, requiring regular attention, and a very specific diet of grasses and hay. Each year they go into a period called rut, that can last for several months, in which their personalities can drastically change, often becoming defensive or even aggressive. Despite their needs prairie dogs are very social animals and come to almost seem like they treat humans as members of their colony, answering barks and chirps, and even coming when called by name.

In mid-2003, due to cross-contamination in a Chicago-area pet store from an unquarantined Gambian pouched rat imported from Africa, several prairie dogs in captivity acquired monkey pox, and subsequently a few humans were also infected. This led the CDC to institute an outright ban on the sale, trade, and transport of prairie dogs within the United States. The disease was never introduced to any wild populations. The European Union also banned importation of prairie dogs in response. While largely seen by exotic pet owners and vendors as unfair, the monkey pox scare was not the only zoonosis incident associated with prairie dogs. Prairie dogs are also very susceptible to bubonic plague, and several wild colonies have been wiped out by it. Also, in 2002, a large group of prairie dogs in captivity in Texas were found to have contracted tularemia. Prairie dogs are not natural carriers of any of the three diseases, but the ban is believed to be in the best interests of protecting the public and there are no intentions of ever lifting it. The prairie dog ban is frequently cited by the CDC as a successful response to the threat of zoonosis.

Prairie dogs that were in captivity at the time of the ban in 2003 are allowed to be kept under a grandfather clause, but they may not be bought, traded, or sold and transport is only permitted to and from a veterinarian under proper quarantine procedures.