Poisoning Death Of Red-Tailed Hawk Prompts Appeal To Mayor Kenney For Action
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The recent poisoning death of a red-tailed Hawk seen regularly around the Art Museum of Philadelphia in recent years has prompted his fans to petition Mayor Jim Kenney.
The hawk was known as T3, the mate of Mom, the hawk who nested for several years at the Franklin Institute.
On November 20, T3 was found sitting on the steps of the Franklin Institute, badly injured and fatally ill with rat poison toxicity.
In his memory, fans are collecting signatures on a change.org petition calling on Mayor Kenney to ban rodenticides, which cause severe internal bleeding and kill indiscriminately.
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"It can happen to domesticated animals as well -- they fail very rapidly," said petition author Wendy Petkus-Mazeika. "It's a really gory death."
Petkus-Mazeika says a nonprofit called 'Raptors are the Solution' or R.A.T.S. -- promotes environmentally friendly rodent control methods.
"They show examples, which we can present to Mayor Kenney, that are less devastating to wildlife, but still control the rodent population," she said. "Let the raptors take care of the rodents for us, and we'll lend them a hand, as well."
They include getting rid of ivy around buildings where rats can hide, and enlisting dog owners and their pooches to take part in weekly rat roundups.
