The state of Minnesota is suing two Mankato homeowners over rat poison it says they placed near a public sidewalk, where at least one neighborhood dog ate it. Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office filed the civil lawsuit on July 1 on behalf of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and a judge ordered the poison removed the next day, according to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. The state says the homeowners set out the bait to keep dogs from urinating on their lawn.
The homeowners left multiple rodenticide bait blocks in their front landscaping near the sidewalk, in plain view and within reach of passing pets. The blocks were reportedly placed without the tamper-resistant bait stations that federal labels require for any outdoor, above-ground use. Neighbors reported seeing about 14 blocks and took photos of them before contacting the Department of Agriculture.
At least one dog was harmed after ingesting some of the poison. A neighbor, Amber Massaglia, told CBS Minnesota that her 9-year-old husky, Tikka, ate bait blocks during a walk. She pried open the dog’s mouth to remove what she could, but the dog needed lab testing and fluids and was placed on vitamin K twice a day for a month. The state said a second dog also required veterinary treatment.
An investigator from the Department of Agriculture went to the property on June 29, and the homeowners declined to cooperate. The couple had posted signs on the lawn expressing hostility toward dogs after growing frustrated with pets near their garden. The lawsuit marks this as a deliberate misuse of a pesticide, though no criminal charges have been filed.
How to Use Poison Bait Safely and Legally
The safe way to use rat poison starts with reading the label, something that may seem like common sense, but still needs to be said. With poison bait blocks, the labels tell users not to set the bait out in the open, and any outdoor or above-ground use has to be inside a tamper-resistant bait station. Those stations are built to hold the bait so that a child or a pet, for instance, isn’t supposed to be able to get to it.
The label also says where and how much bait to place, and it should be positioned along walls or in spots of rodent activity that people and pets do not frequent. Most consumer rodenticides now come pre-loaded in sealed stations for that reason, and the bait should be kept in its original packaging and away from children and animals. The Mankato homeowners allegedly skipped the required stations entirely and left the blocks loose near the sidewalk.
What Did the Judge Order, and What’s Next?
A Blue Earth County judge granted the state a temporary restraining order on July 2. The Mankato Free Press reported that District Court Judge Andrea Lieser ordered the homeowners to remove the rat poison from the publicly accessible area and to let a Department of Agriculture inspector examine the outside of the property.
The state wants to secure a lasting injunction and civil penalties of up to $7,500 for each day the violation continued, and a separate criminal path exists under Minnesota law, where knowingly misusing a pesticide in a way that endangers people can be charged as a gross misdemeanor. Police are investigating, though no criminal charges have yet been filed.