Lethal Bird Control: Dangerous, Cruel and Unnecessary

Each year millions of birds, deemed pests because of the droppings they leave in public places, are thoughtlessly poisoned with a toxic substance called Avitrol. According to the National Institutes of Health, casual exposure to bird droppings will not place an individual at risk of developing disease. So, contrary to popular belief, pigeons (the birds most commonly targeted) are generally not a health threat. Avitrol, however, is dangerous, especially to children, companion animals and wildlife. Avitrols main ingredient, 4-Aminopyridine, is a slow-acting nerve agent. There is no antidote for Avitrol. Birds who ingest even as little as one kernel of Avitrol-poisoned corn exhibit symptoms such as hyperexcitability, salivation, severe tremors, erratic flight and convulsions. These reactions begin anywhere from 10 minutes to four hours after ingestion. Some birds take as long as two days to die. Poisoned birds may convulse in midair and crash to the ground or slam into buildings as they attempt to take flight. Avitrol persists in the environment and can remain in the soil for up to three years. While it often is promoted as a nonlethal product designed to trigger automatic reactions in birds that make them fly wildly about, uttering distress calls that chase other birds away, the product frequently kills. Further, it often is employed to control or chase pigeons, but pigeons are physiologically unable to emit distress calls and are susceptible to over dose, making Avitrol effectively a lethal means of pigeon control. Despite this, users often are told that it will just make birds sick, or drive them away; its lethality is de-emphasized or even denied. In order to make informed management decisions and employ practical risk-reduction measures, cities, businesses and homeowners need to be provided with accurate information about this poison and learn safer, more-humane and longer-lasting alternatives. Threats to wildlife and other non-target animals Avitrol is notoriously indiscriminate. Resident and migratory songbirds, many of which have experienced drastic population declines in recent years, can fall victim to Avitrol-baited corn or grain. Even when used in diluted form (i.e., treated grain is mixed with larger amounts of untreated grain), Avitrol still poses risks to both target and non-target species who may consume the grain directly or indirectly by consuming the undigested grain accumulated in the target birds crops (a storage department of the digestive tract). While metabolism renders the chemical relatively inert thus a predator or scavenger consuming a bird that has died from ingesting Avitrol will not, itself, experience any effect birds of all target species have crops in which ingested grain accumulates. Crops of Columbidae (pigeons and doves) are particularly large relative to body size and may accumulate significant quantities of undigested grain. Predators, such as birds of prey, often swallow undigested crop contents whole, thus will be affected by undigested and still-potent doses of this poison. Domestic dogs and cats, as well as various wild predators and scavengers, similarly may ingest undigested Avitrol-treated grain stored in crops of birds. Children and domestic pets also are placed in danger by coming in contact with poisoned bait or vomit from poisoned pigeons. Threats to public health and safety 4-Aminopyridine is an unacceptable risk to public health and safety. Here is a tasteless, odorless poison available to numerous technicians and other employees working for a multitude of relatively poorly regulated pest control companies widely located in both urban and rural areas across the continent. Avitrol is easy to disguises, is water-soluble, relatively unknown to the general public and highly toxic.

Unnecessary risks Lethal control is ineffective in the long term. Poisonings must be repeated year after year to offset the high reproductive rates of pigeons. According to the National Pest Control Association, While the strategy of bird removal (trapping and/or lethal baiting) reduces the population, it only offers a temporary solution to the problem. Birds will migrate back into the area and reinhabit previous roosting sites if they are not excluded from the site. So in either case for long-term bird management, exclusion is essential. The use of avicides represents just one of the many options available to the pest-control operators and health agencies and, as such, they are not necessarily reliant upon this poison. Indeed, in 2000, the state of New York banned the use of Avitrol in cities with populations over 1 million due to animal cruelty and public safety concerns. Alternatives The most common problem associated with pigeons and other birds is the abundance of unsightly droppings in residential housing areas, businesses and public places. However, the presence of pigeons and other birds is aesthetically pleasing to many city dwellers. Thankfully, there are many effective long-term solutions do not require killing. Examples include: Netting to exclude birds from structures. Balloons, holographic foil strips and other visual deterrents that scare unwanted birds away. Wood or metal fastened at a 60-degree or greater angle on ledges to prevent pigeons from perching (they prefer a flat surface). Bird wires to keep birds from landing on ledges, ranging from single-strand wires placed 3 to 4 inches above the rail of ledge to a more complex wire coil that is wound around a railing or fixed on a ledge. Discouraging feeding in public places. A hatch control product called Ovocontrol P is now available for use on pigeons.

Given the risks associated with the availability and use of Avitrol coupled with the many effective alternatives to its use, this product poses an unnecessary risk to wildlife, the environment, and human health and safety.