Canada’s third most populous province, British Columbia has made permanently banned the use of rat poison.
In July 2021, the B.C government imposed an initial 18-month ban on the use of rodenticides over concerns the poison was inadvertently killing owls, among other wildlife. That ban has now been made permanent.
The announcement made on Friday will now ban the widespread sale and use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs), which the province says risk the secondary poisoning of animals who consume poisoned rodents.
A complete review of SGARs in a bid to understand their impact was conducted over the past 15 months by the province. It involved speaking with technical experts and also holding a public consultation which received almost 1,600 responses.
The permanent ban will kick in on Jan. 21, 2023, the expected end of the 18-month temporary ban.
The ban applies to all sale and use of SGARs by members of the public, and most commercial and industrial operations in B.C., except for those services considered “essential” like hospitals and food production.
In addition, essential services using SGARS will have to hire a licensed pest-control company, be licensed, have a site-specific integrated pest-management plan and record the use of the poison.
According to the government, the ban will reduce pesticide use by requiring individuals and businesses to resort to other methods of pest control, such as traps, less toxic rat poisons, and removing food sources.
The B.C. SPCA urges people to rodent-proof their homes instead of relying on rat poison.
