Compound 1080 Is Killing Endangered Animals
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Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site
End the use of Compound 1080 before any more vulnerable animals are poisoned.
Compound 1080 is so dangerous, the FBI considers it "most likely to be used by terrorists or for malicious intent1."
It's one of the world's most deadly poisons, but the U.S. government still allows its use as a pest deterrent. The toxic substance in Compound 1080, Sodium fluoroacetate, is found in certain plants in Australia, South Africa and Brazil2. A small amount is all it takes to induce vomiting, convulsions, and possibly even cardiac arrest in humans, and is more than often lethal to smaller animals.
Small dosages of sodium fluoroacetate have been integrated into the collars of livestock, which are then punctured when coyotes or other predators attack, killing both the coyote and the livestock3. And when badgers, bears, bobcats, birds or other species come across the carcass, the results can be tragic.
Protected species are anything but when it comes to the indiscriminate killing of Compound 1080. Wolves, California condors, grizzly bears, and even bald and golden eagles have all been inadvertently killed by similar chemical-based pest deterrent methods4, and in colder weather, the poison degrades slowly, and has the potential to leach into water systems.
President Richard M. Nixon banned the use of Compound 1080 and other poisons in 1972, but the EPA granted usage of the poison in livestock protection collars in 1985. Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Wildlife Services departments regulate the usage of sodium fluoroacetate.
While it's made in a small plant in the United States, the deadly reach of Compound 1080 is broad and indiscriminate. Along with sodium cyanide- filled M-44 devices, Compound 1080 contributes to the deaths of 37 animals a day5, both those labeled "pests" and non-target animals.
Compound 1080 is a deadly and dangerous poison, and shouldn't be used in the United States. Sign the petition and tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ban Compound 1080 and protect animals everywhere!
- Camilla H. Fox, Project Coyote, "Action Alert Ban Dangerous Poisons."
- Lex Ee Xiang Leong, Shahjalal Khan, Carl K. Davis,1 Stuart E. Denman, and Chris S. McSweeney, "Fluoroacetate in plants - a review of its distribution, toxicity to livestock and microbial detoxification ."
- Predator Defense (30 March 2017), "Help Us Ban Compound 1080."
- Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense Institute (2002), "Ban 1080."
- Wild Earth Guardians, "$42,977 reward offered for info on fatal poisoning of 8 wolves in Oregon."
The Petition:
To the US Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Continued use of Compound 1080 within the United States is tantamount to biological terrorism.
The substance is so dangerous, the FBI considers it "most likely to be used by terrorists or for malicious intent," yet it is still employed as a pest deterrent. When predators do attack livestock outfitted with special protection collars imbued with Compound 1080, the result is often the gruesome death of both animals, as well as those that may happen upon the carcasses later.
Protected species, like wolves, bears, and even eagles have all been inadvertently killed by Compound 1080 and similar chemical-based pest deterrent methods, and in colder weather, the poison has the potential to leach into water systems, wreaking massive damage on the environment.
Compound 1080 contributes to the deaths of 37 animals a day, both those labeled "pests" and non-target animals.
This indiscriminate killing needs to stop. I urge you to ban the use of Compound 1080 immediately, and prevent further tragedy.
Sincerely,
