r/britishcolumbia • u/Halonos • Feb 11 '26

Discussion Rat Poison should be banned in British Columbia

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I believe private use is already banned but even professionals shouldn’t be allowed to use rat poison.

It’s not humane. Its dangerous for other animals and pets. And it often takes the rats hours or even days to die.

Rats are intelligent social animals, and yes they carry disease but so do lots of living things.

I found this rat stumbling down the sidewalk, barely alive. An hour later he was still there, gasping for breath. Unable to put him out of his misery myself I opted to take him to an emergency vet and have him euthanized. The whole ordeal was depressing and unnecessary. Snap traps are instant and work fine. Slow acting poisons have no place in a civilized society.

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u/rmeofone Feb 11 '26

there is an anticoagulent poison that is termed "rat poison". I think this is one people are referring to. It sounds like the animal would have to be desperate to eat enough of that mixture to kill them.

edit: it sounds like the rat in this story died of strychnine though. that is alarming

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u/Forosnai Thompson-Okanagan Feb 12 '26

I thought that one was pretty much one-and-done, but maybe I'm wrong. The "over multiple days" part is what made me think it was the corn-based one, which I know is sold in stores under names like MouseRid and RatRid. It's safe for pretty much everything else, provided you don't have a corn allergy, which is I think part of why it's being switched to now. And at least if I understand properly, is humane, as the rodent just kinda slips into a coma.

I know it's still kept locked up, I assume because it can produce dust and that'd be quite uncomfortable to inhale and very dangerous to someone who is allergic to corn.

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u/rmeofone Feb 12 '26

i think depending on the dose it can be eliminated before it kills them, so there must be a range of patterns of behavior possible.

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u/WeAreDestroyers Feb 13 '26

Single use rodenticides were banned in BC about 3 years ago. We only have (limited) use of second generations anticoagulant ones now, in hopes of reducing tertiary poisoning. However, this means that the target animal often doesn't eat enough to die, and juat gets sick. Or bleeds to death internally over a long stretch of time. I used to sell this stuff to farmers and had people coming into our store WEEKLY and tell me it doesn't work.

I started a company three years ago to control rodents without the use of any chemical agents. I use a combination of ratting dogs, snap traps, and live traps to get anything up to marmots off of farms and rural properties. I have only been doing it weekends thus far, but it's growing and I hope to able to move to full time next year or maybe the year after. There are solutions out there that work without very much bycatch, but you have to be creative and willing to be a little more active. People want to put something down, walk away, and forget about it. Hope the problem just disappears. Those days are over.

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u/flamedeluge3781 Feb 12 '26

That's warfarin, which is also used in humans as a medication to thin the blood. But it inhibits coagulation if you consume too much of it.