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2003 Animals' Advoc. 1 (2003)

handle is hein.animal/aniad0022 and id is 1 raw text is: INSIDE: ALDF Helps Prosecutor Fight Abuse See Page 7 Warning: Page 7 contains graphic material A NEWSLETTER FOR SUPPORTERS OF THE ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND Spared on the Prairie Texas town calls off prairie dog slaughter A plan to kill nearly 50,000 black-tailed prairie dogs has been scuttled thanks to a lawsuit brought by ALDF and a coali- tion of environmental and animal pro- tection groups. Officials in Lubbock, Texas, were preparing to wipe out a local prairie dog colony because they claimed the animals were responsi- ble for groundwater contamination - a claim environmental experts denied. Soon after the lawsuit was brought, the city backed away from its extermination plan, opting instead to relocate the animals. People think that once an animal is recog- nized under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), it's protected. Sadly, that's not always true, says Stephanie Nichols-Young, an ALDF volunteer who has been involved in efforts to protect prairie dogs across the Southwest. Black-tailed prairie dogs are listed as a candidate species under the ESA. Nine states that are part of their 11-state his- toric range - including Texas - have signed off on a Conservation Agreement to protect them because of this status. Yet a state agency had a hand in the city's plan to kill the prairie dogs. I was very disappointed that government officials so blatantly tried to ignore their agreement and their duties under the ESA, especially considering that their pretext for doing so was so weak. The prairie dogs live in fields used by Lub- bock for sewage treatment. City wastewater is sprayed on rye grass, which is supposed to absorb dangerous nitrates from the water. But the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says the system isn't efficient enough and local groundwa- ter supplies are threatened. The commission and the city have blamed the prairie dogs for rising nitrate levels in the water because the animals cre- ate their colonies by burrowing underground. But prairie dog holes are typically no more than five feet deep, while groundwater tables lie between 50 and 90 feet underground. Yet despite the lack of evidence linking the ani- mals to the water contamination problem, the city Continued on page 4

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