Post by adoptaratcanada on Jul 18, 2007 0:24:54 GMT -4
> Hi everyone,
>
> I just wanted to let everyone know about a risk
> that has come up to our
> animals. I don't
> know how many of you still use wood chips, but
> if you do you should be aware
> of this.
>
> Recently I was driving over trailridge into
> Estes Park. Now I don't know how
> many of you
> are aware of the beetle kill problem we have in
> Grand, Weld, and some parts
> of Jefferson
> County, but about 50% of the pine trees are
> dead and are having to be
> cleared for fire
> safety reasons. In Grand county it is really
> bad. Well anyway, since the
> trees have to be
> cleared people have come up with creative ways
> to get rid of the remaining
> wood. Most cut
> it up into firewood, but while I was in Estes I
> saw a lady on the side of
> the road with her
> pick-up and a sign saying "Free Animal
> Bedding!!". So I stopped out of
> curiosity and asked
> her where the big garbage bags of chips had
> come from. She then told me her
> story about
> how all the trees on her 20 acre property had
> been treated for beetle kill
> last fall but most
> of them had died from the beetles any way. So
> when they cut down all the
> tress and
> already filled their firewood bin they began
> putting the remaining wood
> through their
> chipper, thus resulting in about 500lbs of
> chips.
>
> This is a problem because obviously the wood
> was treated with an
> insecticide. This could
> be extremelly devistating to our poor rats
> upper reperitory conditions and
> not to mention
> harmful to any other small animal when urine
> hits it or even when the dust
> is inhaled.
>
> So I warn everyone out there to be suspicious
> of any bedding not pre
> packaged by a
> company who takes the proper measures to have
> clean chips. You never know if
> someone
> may have sold a bunch of this stuff to
> privately owned pet shops or worse
> donated it to
> Humane societies and rescues. And Carefresh
> Ultra is always a good way to go
> if you don't
> want to get wood chips anymore : )
