I appreciate most of the efforts of the Marin Audubon Society. They are genuinely in support of our Earth’s failing health and the welfare of our wildlife in the Marin County area.
However, I remain opposed to the proposed plans to kill all the mice on the Farallon Islands by dumping a ton of deadly rodenticides on the areas of the mice population.
First, the wish to protect some species of life by destroying other species of life goes against my feelings of compassion and concern for all forms of life—especially for those who can suffer and fear death. And I can’t believe that there is no possible alternative to protecting the ashy storm-petrel birds on the Farallon Islands except by the slow and tortuous poisoning of
50,000 small mammals.
Second, the use of extremely toxic poisons is a dangerous trend to continue in restoring our planet’s health and wildlife balance. Nuclear energy, for example, is thought by many to answer the need for safe and carbon free energy. Yet we all know that sooner or later there will be a high price to pay in human lives for relying on this dangerous and most environmentally threatening source of power.
And just as I fear and oppose nuclear energy because of its destructive and toxic nature, I also intuitively oppose solving our wildlife problems through violent and toxic solutions that will cause great suffering to thousands of animals.
So, in conclusion, I must remain a dissenting voice in the proposed use of rodenticides on the Farallon Islands. And once we are committed to a more humane and environmentally safe solution, the necessary efforts to find an alternative plan can succeed.
Rama Kumar
Fairfax
