An 18-month ban on the sale and use of second-generation rodenticides is welcoming news to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM).
The temporary ban announced this month by B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy will help protect owls and other wildlife from secondary poisoning while “government conducts a scientific review and steps up the promotion of alternatives.”
UBCM president and Vanderhoof Coun. Brian Frenkel believes it is a good start.
“Last week, when we met as a board the topic came up, and we were glad to see it,” he said.
“So I’m pleased to see that it’s happening, and we got policy backing us up on that within UBCM.”
Read More: B.C. puts 18-month ban on rodenticides to help protect wildlife
The regulation of anticoagulant rodenticide was a late resolution put forward at the 2020 UBCM Convention by Port Moody, and endorsed last November by the UBCM Executive.
Agricultural operators and health services, such as hospitals, food processing and storage facilities, restaurants and grocery stores, are exempt from the ban.
The UBCM resolution said the products are an ineffective and counterproductive means of controlling rodent populations long-term because they fail to address the root of the infestation problems and kill predators that serve as natural and chemical-free methods of pest control.
“I think ultimately, at the end of the day, that the agricultural community wants to do better, so we’ll continue to tweak things and move things forward and continually improve that industry,” Frenkel said.
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