Yesterday NYC Council members voted unanimously in support of Flaco’s Law, a rat contraception bill introduced in April by Council Member Shaun Abreu. If signed by the mayor, the legislation will create a pilot program to deploy rat contraceptives, instead of toxic rat poisons, in two pilot program areas within rat mitigation zones in the city within 180 days of the bill’s enactment. The pilot program will last for at least 12 months.

While this is an excellent first step, fertility control alone in two NYC neighborhoods will not stop the carnage of NYC’s raptors and wildlife. That’s because raptors won’t know to only hunt in the pilot program areas. For example, some hawk species hunt in territories of up to 12 square miles; barred owls typically have a 6-10 mile territory.

That’s why Friends of Animals has been pressing NYC Council members to introduce a ban on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARS), the most toxic poisons that are deadly to non-target wildlife. We helped draft and are advocating for legislation that bans SGARs in Connecticut where we are headquartered.

We were told over the summer that legislation for a ban is being drafted by the Council. It’s not being drafted fast enough for us!

Anticoagulant rodenticide poisons work by preventing blood from clotting. The SGARs class was created to be more toxic and last longer than the first-generation class. Rodents frequently eat more than a single dose. Since the rodent doesn’t die instantly, this allows the rodent to continue consuming the toxins.

Birds of prey and other wildlife like foxes and coyotes don’t have a chance against this super lethal build-up in the rodent’s tissues. So, they’re dying from internal bleeding after consuming poisoned rodents.

NYC needs to look to California, which on Wednesday okayed the strongest rat poison restrictions in the United States. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed The Poison-Free Wildlife Act, or Assembly Bill 2552, expanding an existing moratorium on SGARs to include ALL anticoagulant poisons.

Photo by David Lei