Domestic Skunk Petition

We, the undersigned, ask that you, our elected officials, create new laws distinguishing domestic skunks from their wild relatives.  Currently in the United States, all laws pertaining to skunks are laws about and for wild skunks.  Throughout history every animal has been forced to call upon man's humane and sensitive nature and now it seems that the domestic skunk is in desperate need of the same attention.  Innocent companion animals are being killed in this country, under the guise of "protecting public safety".

These animals are Domestic/Pen Raised Skunks.  To the owners of these animals, they are companions, and no different or less important to the family than a cat or a dog.  It is appalling that in this day of information and understanding our laws still support such blatant acts of cruelty, which are born of ignorance.

According to the USDA, an animal is considered to be domestic if it has been raised in captivity for more than three (3) generations.  Skunks have been raised in captivity in the United States for over two hundred (200) years, and there are breeders in this country today who have been breeding skunks for almost seventy (70) years.  Given the fact that domestic skunks produce offspring at least once each year, we can conclude that there are breeders in the United States who have bred almost seventy (70) generations of domestic skunks.  These skunks have surpassed the third generation criterion, yet they continue to be mistakenly coupled with their wild relatives in all matters legal.

We have been told that, according to the Center for Disease Control, a skunk breeder's stock can be considered safe after the breeder has been in business for five (5) years.  Some of the most prominent skunk breeders in the United States have been in business since 1932.  This surpasses CDC's safe breeder criterion.

Since rabies is the main concern of those who oppose skunks as companion animals, it should also be noted that, due to the nature of these animals, they are much less likely to come in contact with a rabid animal than are typical companion animals, such as dogs or cats.  Many dog and cat owners allow their animals to roam outdoors, unattended, and therefore risk those animals coming in contact with a rabid animal.  Skunk owners can not allow their animals outdoors unattended by virtue of a skunk's nature to roam and not return.  The issue of disease in these animals is, therefore, far less than in other sanctioned companion animals.

They do require proper vaccinations at the proper times, as do all companion animals.  There are rabies vaccines being used in other countries for wild skunk populations, and we would also ask that you either consider approving these vaccines in the United States, or approve US testing for rabies vaccinations for these animals.

Also, we ask that you approve a quarantine period for domestic skunks suspected of having rabies.  According to the Center for Disease Control, an animal will begin to show signs of rabies within 3 to 12 weeks of being bitten by a rabid animal, within 7 days of showing signs of rabies, an infected animal will be dead.  Rabies is not contagious until an animal becomes symptomatic of the disease.  Given these facts, it should be simple to determine a reasonable quarantine period.

One of the myths that have been propagated about skunks is that "all skunks are born with rabies".  In each case that we have identified of companion skunks being killed and tested for rabies, the rabies tests have come back negative.  Skunks born to healthy mothers are not born with rabies.  Due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of rabies, innocent, healthy pets are being killed.  The owners of these animals have no legal recourse from these individuals' actions because of current laws.

We, the undersigned, are asking you to please create laws distinguishing these animals from their wild relatives, and in doing so, protect them from the senseless punishment of the misinformed.

By signing this petition, you are in no way claiming to own a skunk, only that you support our efforts to change the laws and stop the killing of Domestic Skunks.  Please sign this petition only once.  If you sign it multiple times you will reduce the credibility of the petition and harm the campaign.

Please also tell as many people as you can to sign the petition, the more signatures that we have the better.  Also, sign once for each person.  If two people sign on one line, it will only count as one signature.

Demographic information (besides state) is optional and asked only because many officials have told us that it can help them serve you better.  We will not release this information to anyone but the final recipients of our petition.

I want to sign this petition (LINK) If you would like a printable version of this petition, please email the WEBMASTER.  Please title it, Printable Petition Request, and indicate whether you would prefer Word97 or WordPerfect format.  Please note that, if you agree to circulate a paper copy of this petition, you are also agreeing to "snail" mail it back to the WebMaster so that all of the signatures you obtain may be joined with those obtained by others.  These signatures will only do us any good, if they are sent together.

(This Petition was taken from Domestic Skunk page.  See Aspen Skunk Rabies Research and Domestic Skunk pages in our Links section.)