Collateral damage: Excessive insecticide making pets sick

Spray campaign also decimated populations of natural mosquito predators.

LAHORE:

Ahmed enjoyed watching the family of parrots in his garden at home in the mornings. But from the middle of September, the family began dwindling. Now there are no parrots to be seen. Worse, his daughter’s pet rabbit died after eating some leaves in the garden.

Mid-September was also around the time that this neighbourhood on The Mall began being sprayed with insecticide. “Every two days, either the neighbours or the local authorities spray or fumigate,” Ahmed says. He believes insecticide is driving away the wildlife in his neighbourhood and killed his daughter’s pet.

Dr Owais Bukhari says that at the height of the dengue outbreak, he was treating four or five cats and dogs every day for insecticide poisoning at his veterinary clinic in DHA. “Now we’re getting one or two people every day bringing in pets that have been vomiting or coughing,” he says.

Small dogs such as Pekinese, Shih Tzus and Chihuahuas are quite vulnerable to getting sick from sniffing or licking insecticide, he says. “Pets are more vulnerable than feral animals,” he says. “I’ve treated rabbits and turtles as well that have eaten greens sprayed with insecticide.”

The treatment involves giving the animals intravenous fluids and antibiotics.

Apart from pets, the excessive use of insecticide has decimated populations of ‘friendly’ insects like back swimmers (true bugs), diving beetles, naiads (larvae of dragon flies), dragonflies, frogs, ladybirds and fireflies, says entomologist Dr Waseem Akhtar, who has been helping identify mosquito breeding sites in Lahore. “These are the friendly insects that feed on mosquito larvae and adults,” he says.

Lizards eat mosquitoes too, and the too have become collateral damage in the war against dengue. People can get their houses coated with a special insecticide paint that is lethal to house lizards.

Dr Akhtar says peppermint oil and basil, neem and citrus plants act as natural mosquito repellent and can be used instead of insecticide or anti-mosquito lotions. Mosquitoes are attracted to flowers such as roses, marigolds, and jasmine.

He warns against over-reliance on insecticide to control mosquito population, saying it will become less effective with time.

“Sprays and fumigations do kill mosquitoes but they will keep coming back until civil society and government get very serious about cleanliness,” said WWF director general Ali Habib.

He said biological control could be an important tool in fighting mosquitoes. “Natural checks and balances may be reacquired if we introduce more fish in water bodies, which naturally predate mosquito larvae and adults, redirect the sewerage lines and generally acquire hygienic habits of solid waste management,” Habib said.

He said that government bodies like the Parks and Horticulture Authority, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), NGOs like WWF and industries need to work together to improve hygiene.

Officers of the Environment Protection Department are currently busy with dengue control measures such as removing stagnant water sources and garbage. They said they had no plans for dealing with any wildlife populations that had been inadvertently hurt by the insecticide spray campaign targeting mosquitoes.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2011.