Support HB 2516: Banning rat poisons that harm wildlife

UPDATE Feb. 5, 2026: HB 2516 did not meet the Feb. 4 cutoff date to move out of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources committee, meaning it is dead for the joint 2025-2026 session.

Each year, dangerous rat poisons sicken or kill thousands of children and pets, as well as untold numbers of wild animals, including owls, eagles, bobcats, cougars, and foxes.

These poisons are cruel, dangerous, and unnecessary, and it is long past time to end their sale and production. At 10:30 a.m. this Tuesday, Jan. 27, the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources will hold a public hearing on HB 2516, a bill that represents a big step in that direction.

HB 2516 would place a two-year moratorium on the sale and use of the most dangerous products: anticoagulant rodenticides and those containing bromethalin.

People use these inhumane poisons to kill rodents, but their impacts reach much further. They also sicken and kill a wide variety of wild predators and scavengers who eat rodents, including vulnerable, threatened, and endangered species. And they pose a direct threat to pets and people—especially children.

In addition to imposing a moratorium on these poisons, HB 2516 would also direct the Washington Academy of Sciences to prepare a report to inform legislative consideration of a permanent ban, compiling data on the dangers of these poisons and the viability of safer, more humane, less dangerous alternatives.

Please join Washington Wildlife First in supporting HB 2516 and defending the health of people, pets, wildlife, and entire ecosystems. House Agriculture Committee members need to hear directly from their constituents why they should support HB 2516:

  • These products poison thousands of pets and children each year, causing acute poisoning as well as impairing their immune systems, making them more susceptible to disease and increasing their chances of dying of cancer.
  • These rodenticides move through food webs and kill wildlife, with impacts widely documented in owls, eagles, bobcats, cougars, and other wildlife, including endangered species like fishers and Cascade red foxes.
  • These poisons cause severe, prolonged suffering. The anticoagulant products kill by causing agonizing internal bleeding and organ failure that lasts several days, while bromethalin causes brain swelling, seizures, paralysis, and respiratory failure.
  • HB 2516 is a measured, precautionary step that would continue to allow other forms of rodent control, including effective prevention techniques, rodent birth control, and even other lethal measures such as traps and less inhumane and dangerous poisons.

Want to learn more? You can find additional scientific and policy details on these dangerous rodenticides in our fact-sheet.

Take Action to Support HB 2516:

1. Register your support:

Please take just a minute to register your support for HB 2516 before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, January 27, so it will be counted by the hearing set for 10:30 a.m. It’s simple and easy: Just click this link, select “pro” from the drop-down menu, fill in the blanks marked by asterisks, select “I am not a robot,” and click “submit registration” at the bottom.

2. Contact your representative IF they sit on the House Agriculture Committee

At this time, we are only asking constituents of House Agriculture Committee members to take action. Use our fact-sheet to craft your message and call and/or email your representative if they are one of the following people who sit on the committee:

Not sure who your representative is? Use the district finder tool.

Please take action today to stand up for our children, pets, and wildlife!

Please stay tuned! If HB 2516 is scheduled for an executive session (i.e., committee vote), we will need your help to push it through!

 

Review Bill and Latest Status Here