An ethical debate has delayed production of an antidote for the controversial poison 1080.
The Environmental Risk Management Authority said last month that there were grounds for reassessing 1080, which is mainly used to kill possums.
Hunters object to its use because deer and feral pigs are killed during possum poisonings; dog-owners
fear for their pets' health; and some people have voiced concerns that 1080 might get into waterways or drinking water.
HortResearch has been working on an antidote for some years. But Chris Devine, manager of the vertebrate pest control programme, said the work had stopped while the institute assessed whether there was a public demand for an antidote, and while the ethics of such research were debated.
The antidote had produced good survival rates in chickens, rats, rabbits and sheep, he said. "There are a few things we don't know yet. For instance, how long after an animal has been poisoned can you save it?
"The next step would be to see whether it worked on dogs."
But that would require poisoning the animals.
"Clearly there are some ethical issues there," said Mr Devine. "I for one am not really that into poisoning dogs and seeing what happens."
Scientist Dr Christian Cook said the contribution of individual compounds in the antidote mix was also unclear.
"A more economical antidote may result from further studies on the individual compounds."
- NZPA
nzherald.co.nz/environment
