Resident launches fight against rodenticides

Joëlle Lefebvre’s 11-year-old cocker-spaniel, Belle, died this past July after ingesting a long-acting anti-coagulant rodenticide. “When the vet told us (rat poison had killed her), we just couldn’t believe it,” recounts the Fallingbrook resident, who never let her dog off her property without a leash, and believes the rodenticide was carried into her yard after improper use by someone in the community. “We had no idea that could happen.”

With the Ontario government requesting comment on its proposed toxics reduction strategy – including a potential pesticide ban – until Dec. 22, Lefebvre says she is hoping to inform residents the existence of rodenticides mean they “have to rely on consumers’ good judgment” when it comes to purchasing separately-sold bait stations for the rodenticide and properly following the label on how to load and where to place them. “(The new provincial regulations) are not going far enough – there’s no change,” she continues, pointing to the lack of a ban for most classes of rodenticides. “I’m hoping they sell it behind closed cabinets at the very least. I think it should be used by professionals (only).”

Since Belle’s death, Lefebvre explains she has gone through mountains of research, trying to determine what rules and regulations surrounding rodenticides exist.

In Quebec, she continues, the products are sold in a locked cabinet and must be retrieved by an employee – in comparison to Ontario, where rodenticides are accessible on open shelves, even lower ones. In the United States, Lefebvre adds, they “go even further” and sell the rodenticide pellets in pre-loaded bait stations, instead of the province’s separate stations, as well as using sales, distribution and packaging restrictions.

But even with her pet’s recent death, it’s the potential danger to children that has Lefebvre up in arms. “Belle was 30 pounds,” she continues, adding that rodenticides are now so potent they have the ability to kill an animal – or child – of that weight, and quickly. “My main point is the danger for children,” Lefebvre says.

And though there are penalties for misusing rodenticides, ranging from a $20,000 fine to one-year imprisonment, Lefebvre suggests it’s difficult to determine whether misconduct has occurred – in her own situation, Health Canada would not place any information about the incident on their website because she didn’t know what rodenticide killed Belle.

Geoff Cutten, senior pesticide regulatory scientist for Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment (MOE), explains that rodenticides aren’t included in the cosmetic pesticide ban because they are considered structural, meaning they are used indoors and around buildings “to stop rodent access.”

Current standards “seem to work well in most cases,” he continues, though the ministry has seen some in the past where a child or domestic pet have been able to access the poison. “We haven’t had a lot of them,” Cutten adds.

In terms of penalties for misuse, he says either the ministry receives a call or an officer completing an inspection notices improper use, with potential charges from both the provincial and federal levels of government.

Labelling those products, however, falls under federal jurisdiction, Cutten continues, adding that “anybody in their right mind” would consider the pre-loaded stations to make more sense.

The feds are likely looking into changing those requirements, he says, explaining that labels do already specify how the rodenticide should be treated and where the stations should be placed.

Ottawa-Orléans MPP Phil McNeely, meanwhile, says he has received a letter detailing Lefebvre’s concerns, and plans on looking into the issue further. “We have sent a letter to the MOE through our Toronto office so we do get a response,” he explains. “Certainly it looks like there is an issue here, and we want to make sure proper safeguards are in place for these rodenticides.” For more information, or to comment on the pesticide ban, please visit www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/land/pesticides/index.php.