Warfarin Going To Kill Us Too Case Study

Warfarin Going to Kill Us Too?
Texas Ag Commissioner, Sid Miller, has recently approved the use of Warfarin, a poison, to eradicate hogs. Although this seems like a good idea, it has previously been shown to have detrimental effects on unintended animals, otherwise known as non-target species. Similar types of poison such as Compound 1080 have previously been used in New Zealand, but it had adverse effects. Not only did it poison non-target bird species and mammals, it also poisoned nine invertebrate species. The invertebrates ate the bait trap and their habitats were contaminated from bait residue, as well as the by-products and carcasses of other animals. The poisoned insects also lead to secondary poisoning for the animals that prey on

Wafarin has a high toxicity against rats though in people it is used to treat thrombosis (Piatkov). Even when just used in rats Warfarin has been found to contaminate non-target predators and scavengers. Essentially it is being used on small mammals, but is already poisoning other predators and scavengers, and now they want to take it to a larger scale. Sid Miller has approved the use of a poison that will not only kill hogs, but will end up likely killing predators, scavengers, and even herbivores such as vultures, dogs, deer, mountain lions, coyotes, and countless other species. This in turn will have detrimental effects on the current ecosystem, by killing different animals in the food chain it will disrupt the balance, the homeostasis. People do not typically eat rats here in America, but countless hunters eat the hogs they kill. Warfarin is being used to treat thrombosis in very small controlled quantities, unlike what would happen if a hunter ate an infected hog, if a hunter ate an infected hog there would be no way to control the amount of Warfarin that is ingested. Warfarin is also found to be more likely than any other drug to “put patients in the emergency room,” and that is the type deemed safe for us by the FDA