Poison-Free CalifoRnIa
Rodent poison kills wildlife.
It's a sad reality of our ecosystem that we can fix through education and advocacy!
Photo Credit:National Parks Service
Here's the scoop on AB1788 that is now California Law
see alternative pest control recommendations from our friends at Poison Free Malibu
It is a huge victory to have CA temporarily ban some uses of anti-coagulant rodenticides before more animals and California wildlife are poisoned, including some species we otherwise invest in protecting like our mountain lions, bobcats, hawks, owls, and eagles.
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The bill requires a reevaluation of the use of second generation anticoagulants that “continued use is not reasonably expected to result in significant adverse effects to non-target wildlife.”
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The bill will regulate the use of second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (a.k.a. SGARs) until the Director of Pesticide Regulation certifies to the Secretary of State that the Department of Pesticide Regulation has completed the reevaluation.
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IMPORTANT, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's (CDPR) re-evaluation process for 2nd generation anticoagulant rat poisons must CONTINUE the ban. CDPR is too close to the pest control companies and poison suppliers. FACT: The current head lobbyist for the Pest Control Operators of California lobbying organization was the Deputy Chief of the CDPR for eight years. DO NOT let them re-institute the poisons with just meaningless guidelines or restrictions.
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The Pest Control Lobby claims that the poisons mostly come from unlicensed and even illegal use. This is FALSE. We have examined many shopping centers, schools, business complexes, homeowner associations, etc. Wildlife organizations I support have also sponsored necropsies for Barn Owls and Bobcats from suburban residential communities to our rural backcountry who have ingested these poisons, proving they are secondary targets of rodenticides, suppressing their ability to thrive and survive.
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The poisons OVERWHELMINGLY come from the poison bait stations put out by the hundreds by the LICENSED pest control companies, rodenticides do not solve the problem, they create systemic ones! Rapel. Deter. Exclude. These practices, such as containing trash in locked dumpsters securely, do more for controlling rodent/prey populations longterm than anti-coagulant rodenticides ever could. We are destroying our predator populations, our ecosystem balancers, when they die from ingesting tainted prey laden with anti-coagulant rodenticides. Without them, our rodent problems only become worse. Ban these second generation anti-coagulant rodenticides FOR GOOD. They are destructive to California wildlife and have no place in our ecosystem.
THank you
Wildlife Research Institute is not alone in our support of AB1788, an important move in California Legislation toward an ecosystem without poisons. Second generation anti-coagulant rodenticides are secondarily poisoning non-target wildlife because ALL THINGS ARE CONNECTED.
We are thankful for our personal connections to other wildlife champions including our WRI Members and other wonderful organizations focusing their efforts on this important advocacy.
