Urgent help needed - ban slug pellets...stop animals dying..

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Gemsie

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Sorry - I know this is not a horsey post...

To all animal lovers,

Please sign this petition, on the governments website, to ban slug pellets from sale in the UK.

My friend lost her dog last week, as a result of the dog eating a bird which too had died as a result of being poisoned by a slug, which had eaten slug pellets.

It was extremely distressing for the dog, and for my friend and completely unnecessary.

These slug pellets are lethal and kill cats, dogs, bird, foxes, badgers etc.

There are alternative animal friendly products available which will get rid of slugs - so there really is no need for pellets to be on sale.

Please pass this petition to everyone in your email contact list - the more siggies the better,

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/slugpellets/

Many Thanks

Gem
 
Thank you JRT.

I didnt realise that slug pellets were so lethal (am not a gardening sort - its a waste of paddock space lol)

I was so shocked and cant believe that something so poisonous is legally sold in the UK - it wasnt a tiny dog either. It was a fit, healthy black labrador.

Such a waste and so very very sad,

Thanks again to all who sign this petition - we had planned to set one up - but saw on the gov website that someone had beaten us to it!!

xx
 
What about the farmers who will be unable to grow brassicas and rape and so on without using them?
 
don't let your dog eat random dead birds, sorry won't be signing, they are extensively used in agriculture and the alternatives would need to be proven in large scale field applications first for me to petition for use of them.

Its your choice if you don't want to use them in your garden but think evolution, this would be applying to all the wild animals and the domestic, my cat lives outside (is a pet tho) and never eats anything that is dead already, assume it is applying sense, unlike many labs I know.
 
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don't let your dog eat random dead birds

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Thanks i was thinking that too, I hope the dog didn't kill the bird because that would surely be breaking the hunting with dogs ban
 
Hi folks,

Thanks for your replies. I just want to clear up a couple of points from my original post.

Firstly - it was not my dog.

The dog is kept on a large farm, and therefore had the freedom to run around the farm - whilst its owner was present.

The dog was 11 years old, and therefore knew her boundaries so would not run off - and was safe for the dog to roam about whilst my friend had here eye on her - but was not watching her every move.

The only way my friend knows that her dog was killed by eating the bird is because the dog was found fitting, and when it was rushed to the vet, the dog was vomiting - which is when the bird was found.

I dont believe for one moment that it is possible in all circumstances to stop a dog from eating a dead bird, I have had to grab a dead bird out of my puppy's mouth before - which she found whilst out in the garden during one of her many wee breaks..(this bird was a casualty of one of our cats).

The acutal chemical which is so harmful to wildlife and found in slug pellets is Metaldehyde.

Other slug killing products are available.

With the introduction of Ferric Phosphate pesticides which do not cause harm to wildlife, but do kill the slugs effectively on the market, in my opinion it is high time that metaldehyde use was banned.

Thanks
 
how would you feel if your dog had just died?! Maybe try being a little more sensetive to those involved.

I love all animals equally and my black lab dogs are always sniffing around dead animals and rolling in them. One even ate a dead rabbit 2 days ago from a fox kill.

I agree about the farmers, my dad is a farmer, but in this day and age they should already be testing these safer products for use instead. The pellet chemicals can easily wash into ditches, then rivers, then the sea and in turn we could end up eating the pellets ourselves! And think of all the animals that die from drinking that water in the meantime. My horses drink from a fresh stream, even wondering if this is safe now?

Money definitely needs throwing in to find a safer solution all round in my opinion!
 
Gemsie- 2nd post made things a bit clearer it was just how we read the first post, we take risks with our animals every day it is just how we go about minimising them.
 
Just wanted to say that animal-safe ferric phosphate slug pellets for garden use are now widely available, and indeed my local garden centre only stocks these now.
smile.gif
 
Thank you for all your replies.

ester - I did feel that your first reply was a little insensitive - I do appreciate that we take risks with our animals all the time - however in my opinion, and as a lover of all animals - the loss of this dog could have been avoided.

All of my animals - horses, dog, and cats alike - are like members of my family and I would be devastated if one of them passed away being poisoned in this way - especially when there are products for farmers and gardeners alike, that can kill slugs without damaging any animals.

Yes - it wasnt my dog - but I still find the whole situation extremely upsetting, and I know it was very distressing for my friend.

thank you all for taking the time to look at my post.
 
My understanding is that if you drink / let animals drink from running water, the water source has to be checked frequently for 2 miles upstream - any futher than that, and chemicals etc are too dilute to harm, but anything coming into the stream from the water table for 2 miles should be assessed.
 
Gemsie - you've made a genuine post and i bet you wish you'd never opened your mouth!

I just wish people wouldn't jump on everything.
 
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