Don’t be fooled: A packet of what appears to be pet kibble is actually pesticide that is sold online.
PETALING JAYA: Pesticides disguised as cakes, sweets and pet kibble are being sold widely on ecommerce platforms, raising concerns of the grave risks they pose if they end up in the wrong hands, especially children or those with sinister motives.
Checks on two popular ecommerce platforms revealed the sale of dozens of pesticides that were mostly advertised as rat poison.
There were also poisons sold to eliminate birds, monkeys, monitor lizards and wild boars.
The poisons were made to appear like coconut candy, cakes, kibble or grains and sold for as low as RM10.
Animal activist and veterinarian Dr Ranjit Kaur Mendhir said she was appalled by the lack of enforcement in regulating the sale of pesticides and herbicides.
She said the sale of such items should require the buyer’s particulars to be registered just in case they are misused and the authorities need to trace a person of interest.
She recalled that about two months ago, nine stray dogs were found poisoned in Tambun, Ipoh.
“If the Health Ministry can be strict with regulating the sale of medicines to doctors and veterinarians, it should do the same with deadly poisons like in other countries such as the United States and India.
“These pesticides are being sold over the counter at hardware shops.
“It is important that such sales on ecommerce platforms be immediately stopped,” said the founder of animal shelter Noah’s Ark Ipoh.
Well-known animal rescuer based in the Klang Valley, Sani Ng Abdullah, said since last year, he had handled at least 20 cases of stray dogs and cats meeting a fatal end from poisoning.
He said food operators often scatter poison around their stalls to overcome rat infestations.
“The food stall owners may not have a motive to kill strays, but because these poisons look like sweets or candy, cats and dogs might end up consuming them.
“There were times after I rescued a sickly stray dog only to find it dead hours later. We later learnt it had been poisoned, dying a slow and cruel death.
“There are so many other animals out there that can suffer the same fate... birds, squirrels, monkeys, to name a few,” said Sani, who operates an animal shelter in Rawang, Selangor.
Retired academician and former Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) professor of chemistry Datuk Dr Omar Shawkataly said apart from enforcement, efforts to educate the public about the dangers of poisons such as pesticides and herbicides should also be carried out.
He said there are also concerns that poisons can eventually end up being consumed by people through bioamplification.
“Humans are at the end of the food chain. The meat and vegetables contaminated through bioamplification could end up on our plates and affect our health.
“Young children may also innocently mistake these disguised pesticides for being candy or sweets.
“There should be strict enforcement on the sale of these deadly items,” he added.
(Bioamplification describes the increase in the concentration of substances such as pesticides and herbicides at successively higher levels in a food chain.)
Dr Omar said as the sale of pest control chemicals is regulated by the law, with licences issued to dealers, it is crucial for the relevant authorities to ensure they are safely stored and sold responsibly.
An animal lover and pet owner, Y. Jeremiah, from Petaling Jaya, who shared several of the ecommerce posts with The Star, said he was shocked to see the poisons being sold freely and openly.
He said the ecommerce platforms also sold herbicides to destroy trees, claiming that it took just “a drop to kill a century-old tree”.
“Apart from stray dogs, I fear for the safety of my own pets. What if there are those with wicked intentions or a neighbour who dislikes my dogs and decides to feed them with these toxins disguised as candy?
“As for the herbicides, these can also be misused by irresponsible parties who intend to destroy public plants or trees. I hope the relevant authorities act quickly before the situation gets out of control,” Jeremiah said.
Such pesticides reared their ugly head last month when two brothers aged two and three died after eating packets of keropok laced with rat poison meant to kill monkeys in Kampung Padang Ubi in Kulim, Kedah, on July 7.
National Poison Centre chief pharmacist Sulastri Samsudin said it had received an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 cases of poisoning this year, with most of them involving children aged below four years.
She said the number of poisoning cases in 2022 was 2,913 and 3,153 last year.
