Barn owls are iconic farmland birds whose welfare is significantly threatened by second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides accumulated through the food chain. Understanding this threat drives advocacy for safer pest control.
Barn owl poisoning by rodenticides represents a slow, invisible welfare crisis. Individual owls do not die dramatic deaths but accumulate sublethal poison over weeks as they consume contaminated prey, eventually dying from hemorrhage that in milder form impairs their flying, hunting, and survival for weeks before it kills. This is diffuse, chronic welfare harm that is difficult to observe but well-documented through systematic testing of barn owl carcasses. The solution requires no technological breakthrough - simply more careful application of existing rodenticide regulations and greater adoption of best-practice guidelines by professional pest controllers and farmers.