Pesticides

Animal Poisoning

If an animal has been exposed to a pesticide or toxin, they may show some of the following signs: slobbering, bleeding from the nose, disorientation, tremors or vomiting.

Food Chain Animals

If you suspect that a food chain animal's death or sickness was caused by pesticides, lead, adulterated feed or other hazardous materials you should:

• Contact your veterinarian immediately
• Keep the animal and its meat, milk or eggs out of the food chain

You are the key to solving these cases. When animal poisoning is suspected, time is critical to determine the cause of death or illness. It is also critical to keep potentially contaminated food out of the food chain.

If your veterinarian cannot explain the animal's illness or death, your veterinarian should contact the Division of Agricultural Resource Management at (608) 224-4500 or the Toxic Response Team Coordinator directly at (608) 224-4539.

Wildlife

If the death or illness of a wild animal appears suspicious, please contact your local humane society animal control officer or your local Department of Natural Resources service center. These offices are often found in the government pages of your phone book.

If you or other officials suspect that the wild animal was exposed to pesticides or other toxic substances, please contact the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection at (608) 224-4500 to become involved in the investigation.

Other Animals

If you suspect that an animal's death or illness was caused by pesticides, lead or other hazardous materials, you should contact your veterinarian immediately.

If your veterinarian suspects that a pesticide is involved, please contact the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection at (608) 224-4500. The department will need to know the following:

• Recent behaviors of the animal.
• Were pesticides recently applied in the area?

If possible, describe the pesticide application, what was applied, how it was applied and who applied it, if known.

Contacts:

Toxic Response Team Coordinator

(608) 224-4539, Mon. - Fri., 7:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
or

Division of Agricultural Resource Management

(608) 224-4500, Mon. - Fri., 7:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
or

Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) Hotline

(800) 943-0003, After hours and weekends. This number is monitored 24 hours a day and staff will contact the Toxic Response Team Coordinator if needed.

What Will Happen

In most cases, an investigator will contact you, especially if a toxic substance is suspected. You will be asked to help us find the cause. The Investigator may ask you questions similar to those below:

• Describe recent behaviors of the animal.
• Did the animal get into or was it recently moved to a new area or new pasture?
• Did the animal get into a building or near equipment that held pesticides or other toxic materials?

An investigator may also take environmental or other samples and have these samples tested. In cases of toxic poisoning, your veterinarian may take samples of the animal's blood, stomach contents and the liver or kidneys. The Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will test these samples for the presence of pesticides or other toxins.

Precautions

Protect your livestock by following these steps:

• Keep all pesticides in a locked storage area, away from animals and children.
• Store pesticides in their original containers.
• Do not leave pesticides in planting or application equipment.
• Carefully and thoroughly clean application equipment and vehicles used to haul pesticides.
• Keep livestock away from burn piles, burn barrels and old batteries. These have been sources of lead poisoning.
• Clearly label feed ingredients (especially mineral feeds) or ask for clearly labeled feed ingredients.

Additional Contacts

Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
University of Wisconsin - Madison
(608) 262-5432, Mon. - Fri., 7:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Animal tissue testing

Food Safety Division
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
(608) 224-4700, Mon. - Fri., 7:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Food safety specialists, proper handling of contaminated food products

Animal Health Division
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
(608) 224-4872, Mon. - Fri., 7:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
State veterinarian, proper carcass disposal

Agricultural Resource Management Division
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
(608) 224-4500, Mon. - Fri., 7:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Pesticide complaints, pesticide regulation