Letters Support initiatives to ban SGAR use

To the editor:

Have you heard the term SGARS? If you haven’t, you can expect that you will hear it in the news in the coming months, as debate intensifies around their use. SGARS stands for Second Generation Anti-Coagulant Rodenticides. commonly used poisons that are often found in those black bait boxes that pest control companies place on their customers’ properties. Used to kill rodents, SGARS have the unintended consequence of killing other wildlife and even family pets.

Here is how SGARS work. A rodent eats the poisoned bait, and perhaps returns for more. The SGARS accumulate in the rodent’s body, and, as it sickens and weakens, it becomes vulnerable to predators such as foxes, coyotes, owls, hawks, eagles or even the family cat. Sometimes the rodent drags the bait out of the box and it is found by the family dog. When our raptors and foxes and coyotes (our natural rodent control) consume poisoned rodents, the SGARS begin to accumulate in their livers. SGARS do not break down. And since they are anti-coagulants, the raptor that consumes them begins to bleed internally, and if it is not found and treated, it suffers and dies a terrible death. In the case of foxes and coyotes, the animal becomes so weakened that it often suffers a secondary illness, such as mange, and cannot recover. It, too, suffers and dies a hideous death.

So what can be done? No one wants rats, right?

There are pest management companies that use humane methods, such as dry ice, carbon dioxide, or birth control to eliminate infestations, so if you are hiring a pest control company, ask about their methods and don’t hire those that use SGARS.

Use Integrated Pest Management ( IPM) strategies that include excluding rodents by sealing entrances, starving rodents by eliminating food and water sources, targeting rodents with snap traps, contraception, dry ice, electronic traps, and, finally, as a last resort and only when infestation occurs, use sodium chloride or cholecalciferol (Vitamin D-3), short term and carefully monitored.

Support local and state initiatives to eliminate SGAR use in your city and statewide. (California has banned them.)

Support local licensed wildlife rehabilitators who are treating these animals everyday, and documenting SGAR deaths with necropsies.

Check out our Facebook Page, Rescue Gloucester Wildlife, for updates on legislation and ways to support this statewide initiative.

Now you know. Do the right thing. Our animals will thank you.

Caroline Haines Rescue Gloucester Wildlife