Keeping a Safe Pace in the Rat Race

Other than perhaps cockroaches, no creature is more reviled than rats. Even before the bubonic plague killed one-third of Europe in 1300s, the rodents have consistently been responsible for the spread of disease epidemics throughout the human population. So, it’s no surprise people have put their faith in everyone from the Pied Piper to Billy the Exterminator and tried anything to get rid of the vermin. But, perhaps, now we’ve gone too far.

In addition to hundreds of children, nearly 4,000 pets are accidentally exposed to rodent poison and suffer serious illness or death each year. The majority of wildlife deaths and injuries caused by these products go largely unreported. Still, the EPA has sufficient evidence to conclude that the toxin’s residential use harms squirrels, deer, raptors, foxes, raccoons, skunks, coyotes, bobcats, weasels and even vultures.

“The pervasiveness of rat poison in wild animals tested is alarming,” says Maggie Brasted, Humane Society of the United States’ wildlife policy associate. “Access to the most potent poisons must be significantly reduced to protect wild predators and scavengers.”

Just last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed and banned the sale of 12 D-Con mouse and rat poison products because they fail to comply with safety standards. The move will significantly reduce the use of the highly toxic anticoagulant poisons, end the sale of loose pellet bait and require retail poison products to be sold as solid bait in tamper-resistant bait stations. These changes will greatly reduce the number of children, pets and wildlife injured or killed from accidental poisoning.

During the last five years, several manufacturers have developed safer rodent poison products that meet EPA’s safety standards. Alternative non-poison methods for rodent control are often far less inhumane and just as effective. That’s good news because humans still need to pick up their pace in the rat race.

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