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Conservation biologist testifies SGAR rodenticides are killing local wildlife, urges wider restrictions
Summary
Laura Kiesel told state representatives that second‑generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) have caused local raptor and other wildlife deaths, described municipal public‑lands bans in Massachusetts and an ongoing legal petition to suspend registrations, and outlined alternatives such as sanitation, exclusion, and fertility control.
Laura Kiesel, a conservation biologist and environmental writer, testified to state representatives that second‑generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) are causing widespread wildlife harm in the Boston Metro region and urged broader restrictions beyond municipal public‑lands bans.
Kiesel said SGARs "killed the first bald eagle to hatch in my town" in 2021 and recounted the loss of additional raptors and other species. She told lawmakers her nonprofit, Save Mass Wildlife, funded liver testing of 40 dead animals collected in 2024–2025; she said "virtually all" showed anticoagulant exposure and that most tested in a lethal range.
The testimony summarized local and scientific evidence on how anticoagulant rodenticides act in ecosystems. Kiesel described how these compounds bioaccumulate and biomagnify up food chains, causing predators to ingest poisoned rodents and suffer internal…
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