"'Super-Toxic' Rat Poisons Kill Owls, Other Wildlife"

"Owls are dying under gruesome circumstances, bleeding to death from stomach hemorrhages in an agonizing and days-long decline. The culprit: An extra-potent class of rodenticides that has flooded the market in recent decades. Six of 164 dead barn owls, barred owls and great horned owls in a western Canada study had pesticide levels high enough to kill them outright, while readings in up to 30 percent of the others appeared toxic and seemed likely to handicap owls. The study is the latest evidence amassed by researchers that poses an unsettling question: Are we willing to poison owls and a variety of other wild animals in order to fight rats? "

Robert McClure reports for Environmental Health News December 12, 2010 (Part 1 of 2).

SEE ALSO:

Part 2: "Rat Poisons Endanger 10,000 U.S. Children Every Year" (EHN)