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05-10-2008, 01:25 PM

Why in the world would anyone accept advice concerning Bearded Dragons from someone who lacks expertise? When it comes to Bearded Dragons I’m going to seek the advice of a professional breeder that’s been in the business for years not someone who doesn’t even maintain the species. To me that just makes sense.

The professional breeders have dealt with this issue and found that Adenovirus is not a problem. They’ve done the footwork, they’ve talked with the researches, they’ve verified the information and misinformation that has been put out over the internet and disputed its validity. Yet people are blindly following Tracie (Drache613) and her supporters, accepting what they state as fact. That doesn’t make sense to me!

Tracie and her supporters have stated on several occasions that breeders won’t conform to their pleas for testing, because it will reflect on them monetarily. That’s simply not true! I know many topnotch breeders who feel that Adenovirus is not a concern and will not test. These people all live for what they do. They breed incredible Bearded Dragons and tend for them with great care. They would be the first group to collectively attack a perceived problem, drawing upon every resource at their disposal to rectify the situation. After all, their livelihood would be at stake not to mention the animals they maintain. Yet when the professional breeders determine that Adenovirus is not the plague it has been professed to be, they are ostracized for not conforming to the wishes of the neophytes of the reptile world. Sounds a bit backwards doesn’t it.

As far as PATS (THE POGONA ADENOVIRUS TESTING SOCIETY) is concerned, I can’t take this organization seriously.

1) I can find no filing of a nonprofit status for this organization. If this was a legitimate organization it would have filed for its 501C3 status with the Federal Government.
2) Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I can tell Tracie is not an accredited individual. If I’m going to deal with an organization its leaders are going to be educated in their field of research. Tracie has not displayed any credentials that I’m aware of.
3) Tracie claims to be collecting test results for research purposes yet refuses to release any statistics. If her research is to benefit the Bearded Dragon Community these statistics must be released. They don’t have to contain the names of breeders, but for sake of argument they should be verified by an independent party.
4) The goal of research is to better understand/cure the disease being studied. That said this organization should have the capacity to perform physical research on Bearded Dragons. From what I have read PATS does not.
5) In post #10 of this thread Tracie admits to giving out test results to Tammy Aldrich over the phone without their possession. If nonexistent results have already been given out what’s to say more won’t be fabricated?

It is my opinion that PATS serves no viable purpose other than to fulfill its leader’s need for self gratification. It and its leader should be shunned by all those who breed/maintain Bearded Dragons.

Now I know someone is bound to ask who I think I am. I’m a breeder. I maintain a fairly large colony of Bearded Dragons with established blood lines from several other quality breeders. I work with my colony fulltime i.e. I do this for a living. No I do not test for Adenovirus in my Bearded Dragons nor have I tested for it in my child, dog, goldfish, or the neighborhood cat. Why would I waste my efforts on testing animals for a virus that is common to virtually every species on the planet. It makes absolutely no sense!

05-10-2008, 01:25 PM	#52
jenkznza	Why in the world would anyone accept advice concerning Bearded Dragons from someone who lacks expertise? When it comes to Bearded Dragons I’m going to seek the advice of a professional breeder that’s been in the business for years not someone who doesn’t even maintain the species. To me that just makes sense. The professional breeders have dealt with this issue and found that Adenovirus is not a problem. They’ve done the footwork, they’ve talked with the researches, they’ve verified the information and misinformation that has been put out over the internet and disputed its validity. Yet people are blindly following Tracie (Drache613) and her supporters, accepting what they state as fact. That doesn’t make sense to me! Tracie and her supporters have stated on several occasions that breeders won’t conform to their pleas for testing, because it will reflect on them monetarily. That’s simply not true! I know many topnotch breeders who feel that Adenovirus is not a concern and will not test. These people all live for what they do. They breed incredible Bearded Dragons and tend for them with great care. They would be the first group to collectively attack a perceived problem, drawing upon every resource at their disposal to rectify the situation. After all, their livelihood would be at stake not to mention the animals they maintain. Yet when the professional breeders determine that Adenovirus is not the plague it has been professed to be, they are ostracized for not conforming to the wishes of the neophytes of the reptile world. Sounds a bit backwards doesn’t it. As far as PATS (THE POGONA ADENOVIRUS TESTING SOCIETY) is concerned, I can’t take this organization seriously. 1) I can find no filing of a nonprofit status for this organization. If this was a legitimate organization it would have filed for its 501C3 status with the Federal Government. 2) Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I can tell Tracie is not an accredited individual. If I’m going to deal with an organization its leaders are going to be educated in their field of research. Tracie has not displayed any credentials that I’m aware of. 3) Tracie claims to be collecting test results for research purposes yet refuses to release any statistics. If her research is to benefit the Bearded Dragon Community these statistics must be released. They don’t have to contain the names of breeders, but for sake of argument they should be verified by an independent party. 4) The goal of research is to better understand/cure the disease being studied. That said this organization should have the capacity to perform physical research on Bearded Dragons. From what I have read PATS does not. 5) In post #10 of this thread Tracie admits to giving out test results to Tammy Aldrich over the phone without their possession. If nonexistent results have already been given out what’s to say more won’t be fabricated? It is my opinion that PATS serves no viable purpose other than to fulfill its leader’s need for self gratification. It and its leader should be shunned by all those who breed/maintain Bearded Dragons. Now I know someone is bound to ask who I think I am. I’m a breeder. I maintain a fairly large colony of Bearded Dragons with established blood lines from several other quality breeders. I work with my colony fulltime i.e. I do this for a living. No I do not test for Adenovirus in my Bearded Dragons nor have I tested for it in my child, dog, goldfish, or the neighborhood cat. Why would I waste my efforts on testing animals for a virus that is common to virtually every species on the planet. It makes absolutely no sense!