4 JANUARY 1957, Page 31

RATS AND POISON Stit,--The suffering involved in the poisoning of

rats and mice is as considerable as in more controversial forms of pest control; hence it is worth surmounting our aversion to vermin sufficiently to discriminate between more and less humane poisons. The. report of the Committee on Cruelty to Wild Animals (published 1951) confirms this when it contrasts (par. 19) the large amount of evidence subthitted to them about cruelty to attractive animals, to which public concern is largely confined (e.g., foxes, deer and rabbits), with practically 'no evidence submitted about cruelty to rats, 'Yet. the rat,' it continues, 'is an intelligent and highly sensitive creature, and probably suffers far more than some of the animals which attract a great deal of sentimental interest.'

Under 'Poisoning' (pars. 98-103), the' report lists the poisons then in common use and says, 'All of these poisons inevitably involve some suffering, 'and we think that some of them are needlessly cruel.' Noting that humane considerations in 'choice of poison may he disregarded in purchasing, the Com- mittee recommend 'that some, Government depart- ment should he empowered to authorise or prohibit particular poisons. •

But with this recommendation unadopted, only voluntary humane, 'selectiveness can keep this suffer- ing to a minimum. The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, which conducts research into such matters, has kindly replied to a query of mine on this subject -that . the least inhuman:: rat poisons

appear to be those containing warfarin or zinc phOsphide. It is advisable to insist on any poison with one of these ingredients, since some brands claiming to be painless are not so. Warfarin is used in a mouse poison sold by one firm which, unfortu- nately uses a more unpleasant ingredient in its rat poison. I understand that UFAW has made arrange- ments for research to find a fully humane rat poison; work will begin, in the new year.—Yours faithfully,