Sodium fluoroacetate is a highly toxic compound primarily used as a pesticide known commercially as Compound 1080.
This compound is naturally found in certain plants in Australia, South Africa and Brazil. A small amount is all it takes to induce vomiting, convulsions, and possibly even cardiac arrest in humans, and is more than often lethal to smaller animals.
It’s one of the world’s most deadly poisons, the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology reports, but the U.S. government still allows its use as a pest deterrent.
According to Predator Defense, small dosages of sodium fluoroacetate have been integrated into the collars of livestock, which are then punctured when coyotes or other predators attack, killing both the coyote and the livestock. And when badgers, bears, bobcats, birds or other species come across the carcass, the results can be tragic.
Compound 1080 is so dangerous, the FBI considers it “most likely to be used by terrorists or for malicious intent,” Project Coyote reports.
Because of the dangers and cruelty associated with these poisons, citizens in California (1998) and Washington State (2000) passed ballot initiatives that ban M-44s and Livestock Protection Collars (LPCs) containing Compound 1080. In 1998, after intense public debate, Wildlife Services’ program withdrew the agency’s registration for use of LPCs containing Compound 1080 in Oregon.
Protected species are anything but when it comes to the indiscriminate killing of Compound 1080. Wolves, California condors, grizzly bears, and even bald and golden eagles have all been inadvertently killed by similar chemical-based pest deterrent methods, and in colder weather, the poison degrades slowly, and has the potential to leach into water systems, Predator Defense reports.
President Richard M. Nixon banned the use of Compound 1080 and other poisons in 1972, but the EPA granted usage of the poison in livestock protection collars in 1985, the Washington Post reports. Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Wildlife Services departments regulate the usage of sodium fluoroacetate.
According to Wild Earth Guardians, while it’s made in a small plant in the United States, the deadly reach of Compound 1080 is broad and indiscriminate. Along with sodium cyanide- filled M-44 devices, Compound 1080 contributes to the deaths of 37 animals a day, both those labeled “pests” and non-target animals.
Compound 1080 is a deadly and dangerous poison, and shouldn’t be used in the United States. Click below and tell the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ban Compound 1080 and protect animals everywhere!