INFOGRAPHICS
Often, a picture can be worth a thousand words. We create, and make available, infographics to tell complex stories quickly and effectively.
INFOGRAPHICS
Often, a picture can be worth a thousand words. We create, and make available, infographics to tell complex stories quickly and effectively.
Photos show government-contracted wolf killers displaying carcasses like trophies
BAN WOLF POISONING
It's time to ban the use of every poison in Canada.
In Canada, the poison sodium cyanide was discontinued in 2021.
In 2024, Health Canada announced their decision to cancel strychnine. After September 7th 2024, strychnine will be entirely illegal.
However, Canada still allows the use of Compound 1080, a violent and indiscriminate poison used to kill wolves and coyotes. Compound 1080 is just as inhumane as strychnine, with symptoms being extremely painful and prolonged before death. Due to a slower onset of symptoms, animals that consume Compound 1080 are able to travel further from bait sites, making them extremely hard to find. Their poisoned carcasses then become poison baits themselves.
STRYCHNINE
CANCELLED
COMPOUND 1080
SODIUM CYANIDE
DISCONTINUED
STRYCHNINE
Rodenticidal strychnine recently underwent re-evaluation as an allowable pesticide in Canada through the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), which is a sector of Health Canada. PMRA decided to cancel the use of rodenticidal strychnine in Canada, noting that the risk to non-target species was too high and that safer alternatives exist to help farmers with rodents.
Predacidal strychnine -- a much more highly concentrated poison -- was recently cancelled for use in Canada to kill coyotes, wolves and black bears, as well as a separate permit to kill skunks. These uses of strychnine will be phased out, and illegal as of September 7th, 2024.
“According to the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC 2003), a killing method is humane if it causes rapid (immediate) unconsciousness and subsequent death without pain or distress. Death by strychnine ingestion is inhumane, as it causes frequent periods of tetanic seizures, occasional cessation of breathing, hyperthermia, extreme suffering, and death from exhaustion or asphyxiation, which typically occurs within 1–2 hours of the onset of clinical signs (Khan 2010). However, death can take up to 24 hours or longer if the dose is low (Eason & Wickstrom 2001).
The use of strychnine to kill wolves is in contravention of CCAC guidelines (CCAC 2003), the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA 2013), the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (2014), and the American Society of Mammalogists (Sikes et al. 2011)”.
COMPOUND 1080
aka sodium monofluoroacetate
Predacidal Compound 1080 recently underwent re-evaluation as an allowable pesticide in Canada through the federal Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), which is a sector of Health Canada. PMRA decided to maintain registration of Compound 1080 in tablet form. We believe that the same risks identified by PMRA for predacidal strychnine apply to predacidal Compound 1080, and the only reason this product has not been cancelled is that the Government of Alberta's use records are so poor and incomplete that PMRA was not able to determine exactly how much poison goes missing on the landscape or is consumed by animals whose bodies are never found.
Livestock Protection Collars contain low-concentration Compound 1080 solutions. These collars were discontinued in 2022, but were once used by farmers to poison wolves and coyotes by placing poison-filled bladders around necks of livestock. These collars are still registered for use in the USA. Bladders can be punctured accidentally, endangering non-targets and the livestock themselves.
Compound 1080 poisoning is widely acknowledged as an inhumane method of killing animals due to the intensity and duration of the suffering it causes (Sherley 2007, CVMA 2014). Animals that ingest it can suffer excruciating pain for several hours; even days before finally losing consciousness.
In her review of literature, Sherley (2007) cites several painful or distressing symptoms of 1080 poisoning, stating that most animals that have been poisoned by 1080 present a variety of signs including: lethargy, retching and vomiting, trembling, fecal and urinary incontinence, unusual vocalizations, hyperactivity, excessive salivation, muscular weakness, uncoordination, hypersensitivity to nervous stimuli and respiratory distress.
Sources:
Sherley, M. (2007) Is Sodium Fluoroacetate (1080) a Humane
Poison? Animal Welfare. 16 :449-458.
CVMA (Canadian Veterinary Medical Association). 2014. Pest
Control - Position Statement. Online
https://www.canadianveterinarians.net/documents/pest-control
OUR WORK TO END POISON USE IN CANADA
In 2020, we worked with Animal Justice, Animal Alliance and other ally organizations to formally request that PMRA conduct a Special Review -- a complete evaluation ahead of the 15-year cyclical Re-Evaluation -- in light of recent condemnation from the scientific community and the Alberta government’s records which show a staggering number of non-target deaths and rampant non-compliance with both federal and provincial rules for use. In short, more non-target wildlife died than the number of caribou in the herd the government is supposedly trying to protect by poisoning wolves. And that's only counting the poisoned carcasses that Government of Alberta staff bothered to find and collect. The Government of Alberta regularly fail to check bait sites within the mandated time frame and have reported that hundreds of strychnine baits were eaten without any carcasses being collected, evidencing the spread of this poison far beyond bait sites. Even if bait sites were checked on time, animals are known to travel long distances after consuming poisons, making it impossible to find them, let alone dispose of their carcasses.
The federal government declined our request for the Special Review in 2021, but chose to accelerate and consolidate the regular processes to re-evaluate these poisons every 15 years.
In 2022, Health Canada published a proposed decision to maintain registration of both Compound 1080 and strychnine. We worked with Animal Justice, Animal Alliance of Canada and Humane Society International/Canada to make sure that PMRA knew that we did not support their proposal and presented evidence collected since 2010 showing how dangerous these poisons are to non-target species.
On March 7th, 2024, PMRA published their final decision on predacides: all strychnine uses were cancelled, but Compound 1080 would continue to be allowed. While we applaud PMRA for coming to the evidence-based conclusion that strychnine is too dangerous for use, we also know that Compound 1080 poses nearly identical risks. We will continue to work to have this last predacide banned across the country.
Public input is necessary to show that Canadians won’t stand for toxins that torture wildlife, decrease biodiversity, and pose a serious threat to the safety of people and pets.
As long as Compound 1080 remains available in Canada these poisons will continue to kill wild and domestic animals across the country, such as these recent strychnine deaths in British Columbia, where strychnine has been banned at the provincial level for years.
WHERE POISONS ARE BEING USED IN CANADA TO KILL WOLVES AND COYOTES
These poisons are showing up in places where they are not permitted, which reinforces concerns surrounding misuse of these highly dangerous toxins as long as they are available in the country. Both poisons have been illegally used in British Columbia to target domestic dogs in public areas. A Saskatchewan farmer recently admitted that he murdered his wife using strychnine in 2020.
Companies and agencies are required to apply to register products with Health Canada’s Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency when they want to include poison in their products. Health Canada grants permits for use of these products.
Currently, only Alberta has permits to use strychnine and Compound 1080, but these poisons have been used in Saskatchewan and Manitoba in the past.
Find out if these poisons have been used near you. Ask your local government representatives and look at the records from 2010-2016 on this map:
