State halts awarding of iguanas at fair

They're cute, they're green and they're busted.

Thanks to the quick action of state health authorities concerned about salmonella infection, baby iguanas are no longer midway prizes at the 50th annual Howard County Fair.

Since the weeklong fair started Saturday, Knox Concessions has been drawing crowds of children begging their parents for a chance to win the lizards, which can grow from a few inches to 7 feet long.

To win one of the tree-dwelling tropical reptiles, all they had to do was plunk three slotted plastic balls into one of many lined-up fishbowls

But when the state's Epidemiology and Disease Control Program got wind of the iguana giveaway from a Sun article Wednesday, alarms went off.

So did the telephone in the office of Bert Nixon, a Howard County health official, who sent an inspector to the fair with a faxed copy of state regulations barring use of animals "as a prize for or as an inducement to enter any contest, game or competition."

But John Knox, whose family has been giving away goldfish at fair midways for 40 years, produced a letter from the state Department of Agriculture granting him an exception from that rule.

The letter provided for the prize goldfish, hermit crabs and anole lizards, but did not mention iguanas.

"I told the lady I don't see what's wrong with them. They've got plenty of food and water," said Mr. Knox, who runs a goldfish game while his wife, Dreama, runs the game with lizards and hermit crabs.

Mr. Nixon wouldn't argue that point: "It looked like the animals were not in distress or being mis-cared for."

And Karen Damewood, chief of zoonotic diseases for the state disease control program, said she never intended to hurt Mr. Knox's business.

"My main concern was to tell the public to just be sure to wash your hands if you got one of the animals."

Nonetheless, Knox's iguana giveaway had to shut down -- at least for now.

Iguanas are known to carry salmonella infection in their digestive tracts, Ms. Damewood said.