You have a chance to make a big difference on a local level to protect our health and Newton’s natural environment from toxics.
Please take a minute to email or call Senator Cynthia Creem to urge her to support the Home Rule Petition that would give the City of Newton the authority to regulate rodenticides (SGARs) on private property and ask her to advocate for this Home Rule Petition with her fellow senators.
SGARs are found in black bait boxes laid out to control rodent populations. They are a deadly class of poisons that kill rodents by preventing their blood from clotting. Predators like raptors, foxes, coyotes, and even pets often consume rodents that have ingested SGARs, and as a result, they develop internal bleeding that is painful and often deadly.
SGARs are devastating Massachusetts wildlife—ironically, wildlife that we depend on to control rodent populations.
Please call or email Senator Creem and ask her to support this home rule petition to protect critical wildlife and public health.
See below for a background on the issue and a sample email.
Senator Creem’s email: Cynthia.Creem@masenate.gov
Sample Email
Dear Senator Creem:
I urge you to support the home rule petition to ban second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs). Please urge your fellow senators to support the Home Rule Petition as well to protect critical wildlife and public health.
[Add your own note about why you care about protecting wildlife and our health.]
SGARs are a deadly class of poisons that kill rodents by preventing their blood from clotting. Predators like raptors, foxes, coyotes, and even pets often consume rodents that have ingested SGARs, and as a result, they develop internal bleeding that is painful and often deadly.
SGARs are devastating Massachusetts wildlife—ironically, wildlife that we depend on to control rodent populations.
Newton has banned the use of these rodenticides in public buildings, but they continue to be widely used by licensed pest control professionals in Massachusetts, even though there are effective alternatives, like Integrated Pest Management practices.
Please let me know if you will support this important Home Rule Petition.
Sincerely,
Your name
Address
Background *
What would the Home Rule Petition do?
Newton is one of six Home Rule Petitions currently in the legislature that would give municipalities the authority to regulate SGARs on private property. If passed by the legislature, the Newton Home Rule Petition would authorize the City of Newton to restrict SGARs on private land in addition to municipal property. (Read the Home Rule Petition.)
How are wildlife harmed by SGARs (Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides)?
SGARs are found in black bait boxes laid out to control rodent populations. They are a deadly class of poisons that kill rodents by preventing their blood from clotting. Predators like raptors, foxes, coyotes, and even pets often consume rodents that have ingested SGARs, and as a result, they develop internal bleeding that is painful and often deadly.
Raptors, foxes, coyotes, and other predators keep our ecosystems in balance. But rodent poisons—specifically second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs)—harm thousands of these creatures in Massachusetts each year.
SGARs are devastating Massachusetts wildlife—ironically, wildlife that we depend on to control rodent populations.
How does non-poison Integrated Pest Management (IPM) control rodents without using SGARs?
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a combination of strategies that modify the environment and make it less attractive for rodents. Environmental modification can be broken down into three steps:
- Exclude Rodents: Rodent-proof your home by filling holes and gaps the size of a quarter or larger. Repair opening with rodent proof materials and close gaps under doors.
- Starve Rodents: Rodents won’t stick around if there’s no food! Remove their food sources by keeping garbage cans covered, don’t let food rot in your garden and never leave pet food or bird seed out for prolonged periods of time. Urge your neighborhood businesses and property managers to tightly lid their trash and properly dispose of food.
- Target Rodents: Utilize other rodent control solutions such as snap-traps, electro traps, or rodent contraceptives.
There are many successful examples of non-poison IPM. Mass Audubon manages rodents at its sanctuaries without using poison. On a larger scale, the towns of Arlington, Newbury, and Lexington are not using SGARs on municipal property, and the cities of Cambridge and Somerville are implementing new IPM methods. And California in 2020 and British Columbia in 2021 have banned SGARs entirely!
What is the support across the state to ban SGARs?
There is a growing momentum to ban SGARs across towns.
Advocates in over 30 towns in Massachusetts that are already organizing around this issue. They seek the passage of bylaws and ordinances restricting SGARs in municipal property, as well as Home Rule Petitions that would allow for further regulation on private property as well.
This growing movement across the state has parallels nationally and internationally. British Columbia, Canada, as well as the state of California, have already passed significant SGAR regulations.
*Thanks to MassAudubon for providing the background information and support.
Photo credit: “Fox” by don_macauley is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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