California Restricting Sales Of Certain Rat Poisons Due To Wildlife Risk

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California consumers will soon be unable to buy certain types of rat poisons because regulators have determined the chemicals used in them pose a danger to other wildlife.

Department of Pesticide Regulation spokeswoman Charlotte Fadipe says that rodenticides containing second-generation anticoagulants - which prevent blood from clotting - must be removed from store shelves by July 1.

After that date, Fadipe says, only pest-control companies and trained professionals will be able to purchase those types of poisons.

The problem with the poisons, which consumers can place inside and around their homes, is that after the rodents eat them, other animals - including family pets - may then eat the rodents and also die.

Some species that have been adversely affected by the poisons are the San Joaquin kit fox, the barn owl, the raccoon, the bobcat and the coyote.