Peace and Justice for Animals

The City of Santa Fe plans to destroy prairie dog colonies at the College of Santa Fe (CSF), as part of its bailout of CSF and development of St. Michael's Drive. The city has approved a deal to turn CSF over to Laureate Education, Inc., product of a $3 billion buyout managed by corporate raider Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Citigroup Private Equity and hedge fund SAC Capital. A recent CNBC story on the deal explains: "Private equity firms buy and sell companies, borrowing most of the money through their targets to finance deals. So-called buyout firms seek undervalued companies with strong cash flows, because they need the cash to pay down the borrowed debt. "
The proposed construction site, which includes a floodplain, is habitat for prairie dogs, lizards, burrowing owls, and other birds and vertebrates of the prairie ecosystem. Construction on this particular parcel would require the removal and relocation of hundreds of prairie dogs, destroy acres of habitat, and reduce Santa Fe’s natural heritage.
The City of Santa Fe is threatening to remove the last remaining prairie dogs from the city, as it turns city parks into sterile playgrounds devoid of wildlife. The city prairie dog relocation ordinance, originally designed to protect prairie dogs from development, is now being used as an excuse to pay contractors to eliminate prairie dogs from the city.
The main prairie dog habitat on the College of Santa Fe property is scheduled to be turned over to the State of New Mexico. Speaking before the Santa Fe City Council in support of the CSF deal, Governor Bill Richardson committed the state to an "open dialog with the prairie dogs." This gives the site the potential to be a refuge for prairie dogs, safe from the city's eradication program.
The city claims that prairie dogs pose a risk of plague. Even though the city depends on tourism, they have posted a prominent plague warning on the home page of the official city website. According to the New Mexico Department of Health, Yersinia pestis, commonly known as "plague," is a rare and easily treated disease. They report: "The number of cases varies by year, ranging from 0 to 27 cases per year. From 1983 through 2006 there were 135 human plague cases in New Mexico, for an average of about 6 cases per year. Since 1993 the number of cases has dropped to an average of less than 4 cases per year."
Prairie dogs, cats and other small mammals can catch the plague, but they generally do not spread disease to humans. The Dept. of Health identified a potential transmission of plague to humans: "a hunter or trapper who catches a plague-infected rabbit, coyote, bobcat or other animal and then skins the animal."