Save an Endangered Species

As someone who cares about wildlife and environmental health, I'm writing to strongly oppose the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to register Kaput-D for use in eradicating prairie dogs in ten states across the Great Plains. The Environmental Protection Agency should not approve Kaput-D, and should immediately rescind its May 2009 approval of Rozol, a similar poison used to kill prairie dogs. In addition to killing black-tailed prairie dogs -- themselves a candidate for federal protection -- these poisons will put other imperiled species at unacceptable risk in violation of the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Act and other federal laws.

I'm amazed that by using Kaput (note the slang term in this name) does not understand the significance of killing off an endangered specie or using poison to do so. It's obvious that by using poison to kill one living thing, will in turn poison other living things that come into contact with that poison.

Example being: when you poison a rat, and your dog then eats that rat...you dog dies of the poison as well... So poison contains a chain reaction..... when you poison bugs, you poison the food plant the bug was living on and in turn the poison passes into the ground and poisons not only the earth, but the water...and then we who eat that plant or drink the water become become poisoned, get sick and die.

Prairie dogs have declined by more than 95% from their historic numbers due to habitat loss, poisoning, shooting and non-native disease. And as a keystone species, their decline has had a negative effect on other prairie animals -- including black-footed ferrets, one of the rarest animals in the world. So it begs the question: why would the EPA even consider approving two new poisons that will help speed the decline of these already imperiled species?

Rozol and Kaput-D cause prairie dogs to slowly bleed to death (Jesus wept) -- a cruel and excruciating way to die. These chemicals also set off a chain reaction of secondary poisoning that can kill imperiled animals that are tied to prairie dogs on the food chain -- including black-footed ferrets, swift foxes, badgers, golden and bald eagles, burrowing owls and ferruginous hawks.

In September, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials requested that your agency consult with them before approving Rozol -- and to put Kaput-D on hold completely (and get these Actively Ignorant people who would use this out of office) -- because prairie dog poisoning had been shown to be a "major factor in the decline of [black-footed] ferrets" and because they had serious concerns about the effects these two poisons could have on other prairie wildlife.

But despite these requests, the EPA went ahead and approved the use of Rozol without properly consulting with federal wildlife experts and without giving the public a chance to weigh in on this deadly decision. And now the agency is poised to approve Kaput-D.

The Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to protect our environment and the wildlife we share it with. I hope the agency will rethink its decision to approve Rozol -- and reject the application to approve Kaput-D -- in order to avoid playing an active role in speeding the decline of several already imperiled species.