It was mentioned a lady in Michigan caught the swine flu at a pet farm. Do you think our customers will have us arrive without using our birds now?

Hey DynaMike - I thought about the same thing. Remember when the bird flu was a big thing? I had a couple of inquiries about whether or not it would be safe for the show, and I produced my vet papers(I had to fax them over) which ceased the worry. I only had one client that said not to bring them, and that was fine with me. It was less hassle to load the animals, and actually was an easier show to perform. *smile* I don't think its a major concern as of now, but it may be down the line. It is getting harder to perform with them without someone bringing something up, but what is the difference between us performing with our pets, and people out walking their dogs in public, or letting their cats run around the neighborhood? I don't see much difference really, but que cera cera...


-Alpha

Mike, we went through the same thing when the avian (bird) flu was around. It affected some performers but not all. That disease was linked directly to birds. It seems the uproar has died down considerably over that situation.

The swine flu is not related to birds. Most people have questions about pigs, pork, bacon and such but that has been disproved for the most part as well. Most of the health reports are stating that the flu is passed on from person to person from sneezing, coughing and such.

I don't think we'll see much of a decrease in bookings for a bird act, at least not from people who have taken the time to listen to the reports. Not to discount the seriousness of the disease, but there will always be those that get overly concerned. Those people will the ones to avoid animal acts right now.

Yup they should be more worried about shaking hands with you than they should about your animals. Shaking hands is the number one communicator of respiratory and virus infections.

And just think, saluting and shaking hands was a signal among men that there were no weapons in their hand.

But disease is another thing.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander