Prairie Dog A Pet Not A Pest In Japan

DENVER - The pest of the West is becoming the beast of the East, at least for those who see prairie dogs as better pets than pests.

Thousands of prairie dogs - the bane of farmers, ranchers, developers and even airport managers - are being sold to Japan each year as pets.

"It's a huge thing," said Jim Rogers, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"The Japanese are crazy about small animals. They are good luck to them," said Pat Storer, author of "Prairie Dog Pets."

Their popularity is unlikely to take much of a bite out of the nation's $4.7 billion trade deficit with Japan, but some people are outraged at the sale of any wildlife.

"They should be living with their families on the Great Plains, not in people's houses," said Lauren McClain of the Southern Great Plains Land Trust.

Ethan Merritt of the Japanese Embassy said the Japanese Prairie Dog Association estimates 5,000 were imported last year.

Storer said some Japanese prairie-dog owners "bring dirt on the roof of their buildings so the prairie dogs can have towns up there."

She said males must be neutered to stop them from biting, but after that they are much more sociable than dogs.

The future of prairie-dogs exports isn't good, and not just because Asian economies are ailing. Some environmental groups want the dogs, who numbered in the billions when Lewis and Clark described seeing "barking squirrels" in 1804, listed as endangered. They say 99 percent of the habitat of one species, the black-tailed, is gone.

The Interior Department said Tuesday it will begin a nine-month review to see if the black-tailed prairie dog should be protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Starting July 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is banning the use of vacuums or other mass-production means of flushing them out for capture and sale. They will have to be trapped.

Storer said "the price will skyrocket." They already cost several hundred dollars by the time they reach a Japanese pet store, she said.