Quote Originally Posted by Sonya610 View Post
Wow...that is one very disturbing story on so many levels. The part that really got me was killing all of them because the risk was just so great, except for the three "pet snakes" that had some emotional value. Sounds like a business decision to me.

And if people want to flame me for expressing that opinion, flame away. I wish now I had not read that story.
Sonya, we don't "flame" here. Having said that, I will attempt to explain my feelings about that sort of incident. You may well not agree with them but that's fine too.

Were I to face the horrible situation of having a deadly virus in the collection - one that as yet is not fully understood, one that wipes out entire collections, one that seems untreatable for the most part - and in that after full testing and advice from a variety of experienced vets that they could not explain nor really treat the collection - nor could they guarantee anything about the other seemingly healthy snakes being carriers....then yes I'd face the horrible decision to euthanize.

For you that may be a coldhearted business decision but I don't see it that way. My family's heart and soul are in our snakes, they are not dollar and cents animals but I do not believe we could live with possibly being the vector of this horrible virus spreading. Could we live with never attending another snake show because we might carry this virus from our collection? Could we live with never having another snake owning friend enter our house for fear they'd be exposed and carry home to their own beloved collection? Could we sit everyday wondering when the next outbreak will cause these glorious animals to sicken, suffer and die because there seems no effective treatment for them? Could we live with knowing that we may have shipped out hatchlings exposed before the first adults died and therefore put our friends and customers at a horribly unacceptable risk?

Sometimes Sonya, when you breed animals you make tough, gut wrenching decisions. I doubt most breeders would call those decisions just cold "business" decisions. I highly doubt most would easily come to the conclusion that no other recourse is there but to face the harsh reality of responsibility. That responsibility is to the snakes, to yourself and to the greater community of snakekeepers out there. Refusing to face that because it would hurt your heart may end up spreading a deadly virus to other collections. Could your heart deal with that?

I pray I'll never be faced with a decision like this. That's why we work so hard with QT procedures and such like to strive to avoid this awful thing happening. I pray more though, that if it ever did happen, I'd have the guts to face what might have to be done.