Urge USDA to Stop the Starling Massacre

Compassionate New Jersey residents have flooded PETA's offices with e-mails and calls for help after media outlets reported that the USDA used the notorious avicide DRC-1339 on a farm near Franklin, New Jersey, in a misguided attempt to control the starling population.

DRC-1339 kills birds by attacking their kidneys, eventually resulting in total renal failure and death. This is a slow, torturous process that can take up to several days. Because of this, many starlings who were poisoned in one location were able to make their way far afield before finally falling from the sky and perishing in the yards of horrified New Jersey residents.

Killing birds is a shortsighted "solution" to any perceived problem. As long as the areas of concern remain attractive and accessible to these birds, more will move in from surrounding areas to fill the newly vacant niche. This creates a vicious and repetitive poisoning cycle in which many birds will suffer and die needlessly.

Please contact the USDA and politely urge it to stop the use of DRC-1339 immediately and to instead work with concerned landowners to identify and use humane flock-control methods.

Please send polite comments to:

Janet L. Bucknall, New Jersey Wildlife Services State Director
U.S. Department of Agriculture
140-C Locust Grove Rd.
Pittstown, NJ 08867
908-735-5654, 866-487-3297
908-735-0821 (fax)
janet.l.bucknall@aphis.usda.gov