Children Mistake Rat Poison for Candy
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Besides being cruel, using poison to control wildlife is dangerous because children and animal companions can easily ingest it—and this can have fatal consequences. Recently, seven children in San Francisco ate rat poison that they found at their middle school, mistaking the blue cubes for candy. The children were taken to nearby hospitals and, fortunately, are all right.
The only way to ensure that children and animal companions don’t ingest rat, mice, insect, or other poisons is not to buy the deadly chemicals. Many great live traps are available, such as PETA’s Humane Smart Mousetrap, which uses a small plastic hut and peanut butter to safely catch animals so that they can be released outside with no harm done to them or anyone else. There are also many effective ways to animal-proof a building so that critters can’t get inside in the first place.
Written by Michelle Sherrow