"Worst ways to die:" Ottawa asks if cruelty should be weighed in wildlife toxins

The federal government is taking further steps to find out if Canadians are still agreeing to kill wild animals, according to what a scientist calls "one of the worst ways to die on Earth".

The Pest Control Agency has expanded public consultations to determine whether or not it should consider cruelty before allowing the use of poisons to control large predators such as the wolf .

Strychnine is the most common of the three toxins considered. The Government of Alberta is one of Canada's largest users. He used it to poison hundreds of wolves and help caribou herds survive in areas severely disrupted by industrial development.

"The use of pesticides to control large predators and the unintended effects on non-target animals is of growing concern to Canadians," says the agency's website.

Within 20 minutes following the administration of strychnine, the muscles begin to convulse. Convulsions increase in intensity and frequency until the spine is arched and the animal suffers asphyxia or dies of exhaustion.

"Strychnine is one of the worst ways to die on the planet in terms of pain and consciousness," said Ryan Brook, a professor in the Department of Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan.

"We have to do better, if you have tried, I do not think you could find a better way to do it."

Last fall, the Wolf Awareness advocacy group issued a letter to the federal government calling it strychnine and two other inhumane compounds. The letter was signed by 50 scientists and animal welfare advocates from across Canada and three countries.

It is time for Canada to modernize its thinking on the control of predators, said Barbara Cartwright of Humane Canada, the national voice of humanitarian societies and SPCAs.

"There is an urgent need to review our wildlife management," she said.

"It must be targeted and effective. There must also be – and this is a growing concern around the world – minimized animal welfare concerns. "

Opponents of strychnine say that the poison does not meet any of these standards.

Wolf Awareness has published documents showing that, with 1,200 wolves killed in various ways in Alberta since 2005, at least 257 other animals have been poisoned, including 44 foxes and one grizzly bear.

These numbers are probably conservative, said Wolf Awareness's Sadie Parr, as strychnine remains in the food web.

"Anything that consumes a carcbad of poison also suffers the same fate before death."

Many scientists doubt that poisoning actually reduces wolves.

"You kill a dominant wolf, the pack separates, sometimes up to three or four times," said biologist Gilbert Proulx. "Then you are faced with four litters the following year instead of one."

According to biologists from the Government of Alberta, wolf slaughter, which also uses aerial shot, has preserved caribou in a landscape heavily affected by energy development and forestry.

Alberta Environment spokesperson, Matt Dykstra, pointed out that farmers are also using strychnine to control rodents, although at a much lower dose than that used against wolves.

Dykstra wonders how humanity could even be measured.

"Mankind is not something that can be defined with a certain degree of accuracy," he said.

The federal agency uses a definition created by the Royal Australian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It refers to "feasible control programs and techniques that avoid or minimize pain, suffering and distress in target and non-target animals".

According to Proulx, strychnine is no longer used to control predators in most Commonwealth countries and Europe, nor in most American states.

Parr recognizes that difficult choices must sometimes be made in animated landscapes. But some decisions, she said, go beyond science.

"The day and the age are gone when we can do everything we want, everything we want," she said. "It's a dilemma for conservation, but it's also a moral dilemma."

– Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @ row1960