Maura

The recent outbreak of monkeypox in the American mid-west, and its connection to prairie dogs that were kept as pets, has focused attention on so-called "exotic pet ownership." Here in America, it's not at all unusual for people to keep domesticated animals like dogs, or cats, or horses as pets. But prairie dogs are wild animals, and because of that, some people believe they shouldn't be owned. But as VOA's Maura Farrelly found out, dogs aren't the only wild animals being brought into American homes.

Fentanyl represents the latest wave of a rolling drug epidemic that has been fueled by prescription painkillers, as addicts continue to seek higher highs and cheaper fixes. “It started out as an opioid epidemic, then heroin, but now it’s a fentanyl epidemic,” Maura Healey, the attorney general of Massachusetts, said in an interview.