Millville, NJ citizens were recently disturbed when dozens of red-winged blackbirds and sparrows started behaving erratically and falling to the ground dead. Birds were reported screaming, convulsing and running into houses. A precautionary 911 call alerted citizens to remain indoors while authorities investigated the situation.
At first, investigators suspected a gas leak. It was later discovered that a farmer used a pesticide called Avitrol with the intention to stop birds from feeding on his crops. Avitrol is an oral toxicant made to suppress a bird's nervous system. The pesticide is banned in much of Europe as well as some of the U.S. including New York City.
The farmer's actions frightened his community and killed many birds in a painful and slow manner. His actions may harm human health when chemical runoff from his farm flows into the groundwater. Please urge the EPA to ban the use of Avitrol in the U.S. to prevent similar episodes from happening in the future.
Dear Environmental Protection Agency,
We are writing to ask you to consider restricting the use of Avitrol in the U.S.
Millville, NJ citizens were recently disturbed when dozens of red-winged blackbirds and sparrows started behaving erratically and falling to the ground dead. Birds were reported screaming, convulsing and running into houses. A precautionary 911 call alerted citizens to remain indoors while authorities investigated the situation.
At first, investigators suspected a gas leak. It was later discovered that a farmer used a pesticide called Avitrol with the intention to stop birds from feeding on his crops. Avitrol is an oral toxicant made to suppress a bird's nervous system. The pesticide is banned in much of Europe as well as some of the U.S. including New York City.
The farmer's actions frightened his community and killed many birds in a painful and slow manner. His actions may harm human health when chemical runoff from his farm flows into the groundwater. To prevent episodes like this from happening in the future, we urge you to ban or severely restrict the use of Avitrol. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our petition.
