Group wants paraquat banned

SUVA – An animal welfare group in Fiji says it believes there is a new groundswell of support to get the herbicide paraquat banned.

This comes after Animals Fiji managed to stop Airports Fiji Limited going through with a planned animal cull at its compound using paraquat to kill stray dogs.

Animals Fiji will now instead trap, neuter and hopefully adopt out dogs.

Co-founder and managing trustee, Casey Quimby, says poisoning using paraquat is an archaic method which burns animals both internally and externally.

Quimby says she was surprised by the amount of outrage directed at Airports Fiji once her organisation aired its concerns about the plans.

“There is a lot of support. Unfortunately for us, with being one of only two animal welfare organisations within Fiji, we struggle to take what is on our plate at the moment.

“With that workload we haven’t really had the time to dedicate as much as I would like to get paraquat banned.

“We’re hoping that the community will drive it a bit more now that the issue has been brought to the surface.”