Prairie dogs as pets? I have very strong feelings about the humaneness of this practice. I have seen prairie dogs in the wild, and it is obvious they have a very strong social order, and need to be with their own kind to be happy.

And then I read that there is no captive breeding program for the little fellows; that all prairie dogs are wild caught as babies. I think this is just wrong!

Now maybe the same case could be made for mice, rats and other rodent pets. Perhaps the difference is that these rodents are somewhat domesticated, and they are definitely bred in captivity.

Since there  have been cases of humans infected with monkey pox traced back to prairie dogs, I like to think the fascination with them as pets has been weakening. I certainly hope so!