Avitrol is a pesticide commonly used to discourage birds such as pigeons, starlings, and house sparrows away from crops and common nesting areas such as apartment buildings. Recently in London, there was a case of pigeons being found dead due to Avitrol poisoning. Avitrol is not legal in the London area due to the possible negative side effects it could have on at risk bird species such as the peregrine falcon.
Mark Brock, the former head of the Ontario Grain Farmers Association and now a full-time famer says that he doesn’t use Avitrol on his crops, he says he only uses chemicals on his farm that pass Canada’s rigorous testing protocols.
“(Avitrol) is not a product that we would ever use. If it goes through the Canadian regulatory process, that looks at toxicity towards animals and passes all of the stringent requirements from the pesticide management regulatory agency, then I believe that they are safe to use if you follow the instructions… in the case of the story (in London) it sounds like an off label use of the product and if that is the case, that is very negative for our perceptions of agriculture in society.”
While there are still some cases such as the recent one in London where pesticides are being used harmfully, Brock still believes that the current rules on pesticide usage in Canada are sufficient.
“In Canada we go one step further than our counterparts in the United States. in the United States to have a product come to market, any type of pesticide, they only have to do toxicology testing. In Canada not only do we have to do toxicology testing, but the companies actually have to prove their product does what it says it does through something called efficacy studies. That’s a further step we take here. The Canadian government verifies that not only is it safe to use when you follow the label, but it also actually works.”
Doug Hasenfeld, a former pest control worker turned animal rights activist says that the purpose of using Avitrol isn’t actually to kill the birds, but just to scare them away.
“Avitrol isn’t even supposed to be poisonous to birds. It’s supposed to cause distress in the bird, that they would give out a distress call to warn other birds… that’s the purpose, to deter other birds from coming to the area.”
Doug also says that there are much more humane ways to deter problematic birds.
“You can deter them without using Avitrol, you never know when you might have a peregrine falcon in one of these high spaces… you can put spikes on the roof so they can’t rest there, it’s not an inhumane thing, you’re just making it an inhospitable area for them.”
While like the pigeons in London, some animals fall victim to improper use of pesticides, that doesn’t mean that every form of pest control is bad. When following the proper rules and regulations laid out by the Canadian government, pest control can be done safely, humanely and effectively.
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