Okay, my friend found the actual article (She's better at searching than
I am!):
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/10/29/sars.pets.ap/index.html
 
>"You might want to quarantine the pets as well as the people...
 
>Other scientists who have studied SARS say pet owners shouldn't
>overreact, however...
>"These animals in all likelihood did not play a significant role in
>spread of (SARS) to humans," said Dr. Klaus Stohr, the World Health
>Organization's chief SARS scientist...
>
>Besides, said Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, the former head of the U.S. Centers
>for Disease Control and Prevention, "we still don't know if they can
>pass the virus to people."...
>
>Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, also notes a separate report
>that cats were found infected with the virus in a Hong Kong apartment
>complex
 
See the article for more including the presentations and notice that
there might be a problem with the WAY that the research was done so there
is still some room for doubt, including of ability to transmit (important
doubt).
 
It is unclear if they have tested dogs, yet, but it looks like they only
tried cats and ferrets so far.  Ferrets are more closely related to dogs
than cats.  In fact, they are the most recent descendants from the
ancestral dog branch.  It might not be any surprise if ferrets, cats,
and dogs can all get it.
 
It is NOT known if cats or ferrets can transmit the coronavirus to
people.
 
I don't know if it is even clear, yet, if the humans who first contracted
SARS got it from contact or from eating the infected animals since it was
a live food market.
 
The primary vector animal in Asia appears to by a type of civet and
civets are descended from the cat branch.
 
In other words, it would not be any surprise if a number of species
within a very wide range of animals in the Order Carnivora (dogs, cats,
mustelids like ferrets, viverrids like mongooses, bears, raccoons and
procyonid relatives, etc.) might be able to get SARS, but even then it
is not known if they can transmit it.
[Posted in FML issue 4316]