ACTION ALERT UPDATE 9/13/20! On August 31, the CA Legislature passed AB 1788 in a huge win for wildlife. The bill is now on the Governor’s desk for signature.

Please email Governor Newsom a polite letter at Leg.unit@gov.ca.gov ASAP, requesting his support for AB 1788.

Use the email Subject line “AB 1788 – Request to Sign”

Include your name and address

Feel free to cut and paste from the talking points below, but individualizing the first paragraph with your own words makes your letter more effective. Suggested talking points:

Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) pose a significant threat to the wildlife in our state. A lethal dose of SGARs can be ingested in a single feeding and, most alarming, they can persist in an animal’s liver for up to 100 days. These factors make SGARs especially problematic to predators and scavengers – such as owls, hawks, eagles, mountain lions, and bobcats – who tend to feed on the animals that have been poisoned with bait. This concern for protection of non-target wildlife, in part, led the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to pull SGARs from consumer shelves in July 2014.

Unfortunately, however, there has been no decrease in the rate of wildlife poisoning from these products since that time, as licensed pest control applicators are still permitted to use SGARs and continue to do so throughout the state. In fact, in recent studies reviewed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, between 70% to 90% of tested wildlife were found to have SGARs in their systems.

These facts led to DPR issuing a new notice of reevaluation in March of this year. There is public demand for limitation on the use of these dangerous toxins as demonstrated by the 29 jurisdictions in the State of California – including Humboldt County, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco – that have enacted resolutions encouraging residents to avoid buying, selling, and using anticoagulant rodenticides. This is a growing trend in the state as more and more residents learn about the harms caused by anticoagulant rodenticides and explore other solutions to manage rodent infestations. Since local municipalities are preempted from enacting ordinances that would ban rodenticide use outright, such resolutions, coupled with public education campaigns, are the best that local jurisdictions can do to protect their ecosystems and make laws reflecting the will of their residents. These municipalities – and their residents – are all relying on the state to take necessary steps to protect ecosystems through enacting AB 1788.

Pending the DPR’s reevaluation, it is critical that the State take immediate action to place a moratorium on the use of SGARs in California except in limited circumstances, to protect wildlife throughout our great state. Protecting mountain lions and golden eagles is not just beneficial to these species; these and other predators play a vital role in regulating our delicate ecosystem.

For these reasons, we strongly urge you to sign AB 1788 into law. Thank you for your consideration and your leadership.

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RATS is co-sponsoring AB 1788 (Assemblymember Richard Bloom, Santa Monica) this year, which puts a moratorium on dangerous second generation anticoagulants until the CA Dept. of Pesticide finishes its reevaluation process. Read our joint press release.