Protect pets and wildlife: Campaign to end second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides

_{Dr Annie Naimo, Urban Bird Program Coordinator, BirdLife Australia}

The use of SGARs has been heavily regulated across Europe, the UK, and North America, yet these products are freely available to the general public in Australia. Regulation surrounding SGARs is currently under review by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority (APVMA), yet no decisions have been offered until 2025, and timelines for action unclear. The APVMA has the authority to ensure this group of chemicals is available for use only by licensed professionals, where training means the risks of inappropriate and unsafe use can be mitigated. Similarly effective, yet less ecologically harmful, first-generation anti-coagulant rodenticides will continue to be available for purchase by the general public.

BirdLife Australia and grassroots groups across the country are working to bring about quicker reforms. The APVMA process is protracted, but outcomes are urgently needed now. It is within the power of the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Senator Murray Watt, to expedite this process, and bring about a timely solution, yet this has not yet happened.

As a vet, your voice is important. You can help by contacting your federal representative and voicing your concern. You can urge your MP to raise the issue of SGARs with Senator Watt, and in doing so you will be supporting safer regulations around these chemicals for wildlife and domestic animals.

Add your voice to the campaign to end the public sale of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides.

We’ve included a sample letter that can be sent to your federal member here. Feel free to include your own experiences in your correspondence.

If you’d like to get in touch with us, you can reach out at actforbirds@birdlife.org.au, or learn more about this and other campaigns at actforbirds.org. Let us know if you contact your MP, or CC or BCC us into the correspondence.

Dr Annie Naimo for BirdLife Australia