Submitted by Ms. Jacky Chaplow on
Considered one of the most humane for horses, livestock and companion animals, the euthanasia drug sodium pentobarbital (SPB) also has a lengthy history of unintentional secondary debilitation/mortality. Reports of scavenger poisonings including ravens, bears, martens, fishers, lynx and otters first emerged in the late 1980s in North America.
In 2010, a dog on a New York State beach was incapacitated after ingesting blubber of a stranded humpback whale euthanized there two weeks prior. Last year, two bald eagles died in Florida (photo credit Michelle Whitfield of the Animis Foundation), at least a dozen turkey vultures were impaired in California and a tiger, wolf and cheetah perished at a Nevada sanctuary.
This is only a snapshot of the true global extent of the issue. We are currently seeking for review both reported and unreported cases from the last decade.
Please contact Dr. Ngaio Richards: ngaio@workingdogsforconservation.org for more information about collaborating and navigate to Working Dogs for Conservation to find out about what they do.