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Since people have lived in
America, skunks have been kept in captivity, whether for utilitarian purposes,
such as pest control, or for the sheer joy that they bring us as pets. With the
upsurge in the fur industry during the 1800s and early 1900s, many breeders
began raising them in captivity for their fur. In 1858, there were 18,255 skunk
pelts shipped to London alone. This number gradually increased over the years
to 1914 when 1,921,869 furs were shipped. In fact, in the early 1900s, skunk
fur was the second most popular fur and exceeded the most popular fur-bearing
animal (muskrat) in total value of fur produced.
With the decline in the fur industry in the latter part of the 20th
century, breeders, who depended on skunks for their livelihood for decades,
began looking for alternative ways to supplement their income. Thus began the
trend toward selling skunks as pets.
Unfortunately, even though the breeding of skunks for the fur industry was
sanctioned, and even encouraged by government agencies, keeping them as pets has
not been received well by these same agencies. This is primarily because there
is no approved rabies vaccine or quarantine period for skunks as there is for
other, more popular pets. Consequently, even in states where they are legal as
pets, skunks who have been raised in homes for their entire lives and never had
the opportunity to contract the disease are still at risk of being euthanized
and tested for rabies should a bite occur. Many domestic skunks have suffered
this fate over the last decade.
In December of 1998, Aspen, a two year old domestic skunk of the Mills family
and the 1998 Skunks as Pets Grand National Champion was euthanized because he
bit someone while playing. You can read Aspen's story on this
site. At this point, the skunk community became determined to prevent the loss
of any more of our beloved pets to this fate. This led to the formation of
Aspen Skunk Rabies Research, Inc. (ASRR).
Skunks are becoming more and more popular as pets, both in the US and overseas.
However, the number of pet skunks is no match for the number of dogs and cats
owned by the public. For this reason, it is not economically feasible for the
vaccine companies or the government to fund the study for a skunk vaccine and
quarantine period. It is therefore up to us to shoulder this burden if we want
to protect our beloved pets. As our research has shown us, this is a lengthy and
expensive process. We ask you to help us to help the skunks.
ASRR is dedicated to obtaining a government-approved rabies vaccine and
quarantine period for skunks so that skunks, and the people who love them, can
live in harmony without fear of another unnecessary death.
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