We’re elated to share the good news for California’s wild animals! Gov. Gavin Newsom has officially signed AB 1788, the bill to ban deadly rodenticides, otherwise known as super-toxic rat poisons, statewide. This legislation will protect countless animals, including mice, rats, owls, hawks, coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions from painful, untimely deaths. 

This precedent-setting protection is thanks to activist power! We’re so grateful to all who took action on our alerts, gave generous gifts to support our work, and made a difference for wild animals! 

Thanks to thousands of In Defense of Animals supporters and our partner organizations, poison peddlers won’t be able to use the most deadly rodenticide poisons, which have been killing mice and rats along with countless other animals who depend upon their poison-free existence for survival. This law closes a loophole that allowed unrestricted commercial use of rat poisons. 

We worked with a statewide coalition for two years to pass this law, and our work finally paid off with this huge success! Now four of the six deadliest rodenticides are banned statewide. 

We still have work ahead to ban the remaining two rodenticides that continue to kill wild animals across the state, but this law will greatly reduce all too frequent reports of rodenticide-related mountain lion, bobcat, and owl deaths.

This bill is truly a lifeline for wild animals in California. We thank Gov. Newsom and our colleagues on the AB 1788 coalition who worked tirelessly to achieve this victory. We also deeply appreciate your support and compassion for all beings. Please continue to support our ongoing efforts to rid this state of the remaining deadly poisons by making a donation.