skip to main content

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

play newscast audioPlay

Lawmakers consider changes to Maine's Clean Election law, Florida offers a big no comment over "arranged" migrant flights to California, and the Global Fragility Act turns U.S. peacekeeping on its head.

play newscast audioPlay

A bipartisan effort aims to preserve AM radio, the Human Rights Campaign declares a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people, and the Atlanta City Council approves funding for a controversial police training center.

play newscast audioPlay

Oregon may expand food stamp eligibility to some undocumented households, rural areas have a new method of accessing money for roads and bridges, and Tennessee's new online tool helps keep track of cemetery locations.

Conservation Groups Rally to Ban Highly Toxic Rat Poison

play audio
Play

Wednesday, April 6, 2016   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Dozens of people rallied in Sacramento on Tuesday to support a bill that would ban certain kinds of rat poison.

The protest took place across the street from the annual meeting of California Pest Control Operators, which opposes Assembly Bill 2596. Most rat poison was pulled from store shelves last year, but it is still widely used by professional pest-control companies.

Lisa Owens-Viani, director of a conservation group called Raptors Are the Solution, said secondary poisonings are a huge problem.

"When an owl or a hawk or a mountain lion, bobcat, the domestic cat, when they eat a rat that has been poisoned," she said, "they also become poisoned because the rat poison is very, very toxic."

Advocates suggest that homeowners go back to traditional methods such as getting a cat, or using a snap trap. There are also electronic traps that go inside of bait boxes. They urge people to remove anything that may be attracting rats to the property, such as fallen fruit or pet food.

Owens-Viani said 8,500 children were accidentally sickened by rodenticides in 2014 in the United States, many after bait was placed in high-traffic areas such as public housing units.

"A lot of times they're flavored like chocolate or peanut butter," she said, "and little kids can pick up the bait and eat it. They end up in the emergency room. Usually doesn't kill kids although it has in a couple of instances."

Wildlife officials have documented poisonings in at least 37 different types of animals. Twenty-six California cities and counties have passed resolutions urging the public and pest-control operators to avoid rodent poisons.

The text of AB 2596 is online at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.


get more stories like this via email

Parcels of land downstream of Ruybal Fox Creek Ranch have been subdivided into 35- to 50-acre large-lot tracts. (Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust)

Environment

play sound

Ruybal Fox Creek Ranch sits in a dramatic canyon in the foothills of southern Colorado's San Juan Mountains, right next to the Rio Grande National …


Health and Wellness

play sound

North Dakota officials are urging people receiving health coverage through a key public program to stay on top of their renewal if they are still elig…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Nevada has received an overall score of 43 in the nation for the health and well-being of its seniors in the state. According to the United Health …


While South Dakota rarely sees recall elections, an expert says neighboring North Dakota has seen a lot of such activity, with nearly three dozen recall votes in the past 12 years. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A court hearing next week could help determine whether an eastern South Dakota mayor will face a recall election. Events are rare for this state…

Social Issues

play sound

Indiana ranks closer to the bottom of U.S. states where you will find healthy seniors living than the top, according to a new report. …

Ninety-percent of counties with the worst food insecurity are rural, according to Save the Children.(Viktoriia/AdobeStock)

Social Issues

play sound

The last day of school for Texas kids is typically one of elation, but for children in rural areas with high poverty rates, it also can mean …

Environment

play sound

Virginia environmental advocates are not happy with the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision on the Clean Water Act. The ruling in Sackett versus E-P-…

Social Issues

play sound

Record-high demand has prompted the Ohio Association of Food Banks to request additional funding in the biennial budget to increase the capacity of fo…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021