Rat poison kills pets and wildlife. A citizen petition aims to ban its use on Town property.

Lexington resident Cecilia d’Oliveira takes her dog Lucy, a 13-year-old Jack Russell terrier and chihuahua mix, on walks a couple of times a day. 

Typically, they walk down the Minuteman Bikeway or around conservation lands near d’Oliveira’s home. Lucy sniffs and chews grass during their walks. She is very rarely off-leash, her owner said. In the past, sometimes d’Oliveira firmly watched Lucy’s moves and other days, she did not. But one day in April 2021, their routine walk left Lucy severely sickened. D’Oliveira says now she never takes her eyes off of her. 

D’Oliveira recalled walking Lucy on the bike path on a Sunday and taking their routine walk around the neighborhood the next morning. Later, during their evening walk, d’Oliveira said Lucy stopped in the middle of the walk and did not want to continue. When they returned home, Lucy began limping on her legs and threw up. The dog was acting abnormal, too — sitting and looking around as if “she didn’t know where she was.”

Over the next two days the symptoms progressed. Lucy’s regular veterinarian could not find the culprit. Lucy was admitted to an animal emergency room, where veterinarians said her blood was not clotting and that it would take several days and thousands of dollars to control whatever was making Lucy sick. D’Oliveira said the veterinarians told her they weren’t sure if Lucy could be saved. 

“I thought she was going to die,” d’Oliveira remembered.

After being in the hospital for four days, Lucy’s symptoms started to resolve after she was treated with vitamin K. Veterinarians said that Lucy’s symptoms were consistent with poisoning from rodenticide — rat poison. 

That was d’Oliveira’s first time ever hearing of rodenticide poisoning, which can occur when a non-targeted animal eats the bait or an animal ingests a rat that has poison in its system, causing themselves to be poisoned and sickened or killed. Rodenticides — particularly the more potent second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, or SGARS — have been a cause for serious concern and increasing awareness because of their effect on wildlife like eagles and owls, and pets, like Lucy. 

To this day, D’Oliveira isn’t sure where Lucy may have come in contact with the poison on their walk through town. But the experience was a wake-up call to the secondary impacts on wildlife and pets and the need to reduce the use of poison in the community.

D’Oliveira is part of a new local organization called Save Lexington Wildlife, a group of local residents whose mission is to reduce or eliminate the use of anticoagulant rat poison in Lexington, to educate others on the poisoning of wildlife, and promote safer alternatives. Save Lexington Wildlife has joined a chorus of other voices critical of the use of SGARs, including Save Arlington Wildlife and Save Newbury Wildlife.

Save Lexington Wildlife’s founder, Marci Cemenska, said the group will bring forward a citizen petition, known as Article 40, at Town Meeting in March. The article calls for a ban on certain rodenticides, including SGARs, on town-owned properties. Under state law, cities and towns can ban rodenticide use on public property, but cannot regulate their use on private properties.

Under federal law regulations, pesticides are unlawful to distribute or sell without first being registered with the Environmental Protection Agency. Federal law also allows states to have enforcement responsibility. In Massachusetts, pesticide regulation is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

Cemenska said after creating the group, many in town have contacted her, saying their pets had been poisoned by rodenticides and needed treatment. 

“I find it heartbreaking,” Cemenska said.

“These anticoagulant rat poisons appear to reduce the immune system of animals and make them more susceptible to diseases,” Cemenska said, referring particularly to foxes and coyotes, which are prone to diseases like mange. Cemenska says SGARs are particularly dangerous because they bioaccumulate and transfer up the food chain.

SGARs have long been an issue in the area, apparently causing the death of a family of owls, foxes, pets, and several already-endangered bald eagles, including one of Arlington’s beloved birds named “MK” last year. MK’s death prompted hundreds to march and push lawmakers to pass legislation to ban SGAR use. In 2020, Tuft’s Wildlife Clinic Director Maureen Murray published a study that showed 100 percent of red-tailed hawks tested at the clinic were positive for exposure to anticoagulant rodenticides.

Members of Save Lexington Wildlife have observed bait stations — which look like black plastic toolboxes containing the poison — throughout town, on commercial and some residential properties. 

“I’ve seen them at Walgreens. I’ve seen them at the medical office building across from Stop and Shop,” Cemenska said. “They’re at a lot of commercial properties.”

Many are unaware of the alternatives to SGARs, said Cindy Savage, a member of the group. 

“I think the question that a lot of people ask is if I can’t use poison, what can I use? I don’t think a lot of people know that your dog can die, your cat can die, and the owl that you hear up in your tree every night can die because of these rat poisons,” Savage said.

Savage wants to see residents become more involved in the matter by contacting their state representatives and local Town Meeting members and asking them to support Article 40 and other state-wide legislation. 

State Representative Michelle Ciccolo, who represents the 15th Middlesex District which includes Lexington, has co-sponsored two bills, H.804 and H.814, to regulate the use of SGARs.

Ciccolo, who sits on the environmental committee, said the issue of rodenticides has been on her radar after hearing from Cemenska and Save Lexington Wildlife on a regular basis. While she understands industry pushback and public health concerns about controlling pest populations through rodenticides, the science is becoming clearer that animals are in danger.

“I try to be responsive to my constituents,” Rep. Ciccolo said of her support. “This is a situation where there’s a balancing act between protecting public health and protecting animals. I see them as one and the same, and that’s why I believe that we have to develop safer alternatives. But until there’s more public awareness, it’s not easy.”

Cemenska says safer alternatives alternatives exist, like Integrated Pest Management, or IPM strategies, which includes options like traps, repellants, and Contrapest (a rat birth control). That’s part of what she’s advocating for in for Article 40.

“What happened to Lucy is a mystery. I think it’s a warning sign that poisons can affect even our own domestic pets,” d’Oliveira said. “I think we ought to make sure they’re not being used in any way on town property.”

This article has been edited to correct for innacuracies regarding the differences between SGARs and other rodenticides and regulations impacting their use.