Getting the Balance
Right: Pest Control Vs Public Opinion
In early June, a local paper picked up a story that had
started on social media. A shopper at a supermarket had seen an ‘exterminator’
shoot a fox in a trap set outside the store, in the warehouse section.
With feelings
running high around foxes, this was clearly a major blunder for the
supermarket. It was also not a great look for the ‘exterminator’, which the
client later confirmed was a ‘hired professional pest controller’.
As pest
controllers doing our ‘day job’, we probably are guilty of forgetting how people
can feel about pest control and the remedies and solutions we use. For the
supermarket, they were quoted saying that due to food safety laws, health and
safety and a myriad of other legally binding responsibilities, they were taking
the right course of action.
It highlights a
key area for pest control: balance. On
one hand, companies and businesses do have legal obligations and professional
pest control is undoubtedly the right move in controlling pests and vermin. But
there also needs to be a balance with public perception.
So how do we get
this balance?
·
Education – Pests and Legislation
It is a delicate
balancing act but a fox in a food storage area is contravening a number of laws
and guidelines. From a food hygiene point of view, as consumers, we want to know that our food is safe right through the
supply chain.
Most people are
aware of food hygiene and other laws etc. that govern businesses, including
supermarkets. But as well as refreshing people’s knowledge of guidelines and
laws, we also need to make sure that people are aware of how pests are treated.
Again, pest
controllers are subject to all kinds of laws, the majority of which (if not
all) also apply to the ‘ordinary person on the street’. No one can cause
unnecessary suffering to an animal or bird, whether you have pest control
qualifications or not.
There are also
some methods which are acceptable when dealing with certain pests, foxes
included. Foxes, if not relocated, should either be euthanised or shot.
Euthanasia can only be carried out by a vet and is considered too expensive
as a long-term pest control solution. Therefore, the pest controller was within
the law shooting the fox.
·
Discretion
It was a
difficult thing for someone to have to witness. And with social media the
outlet for airing grievances and the like, it was a natural progression that
this story would make it to the public domain in this way.
Shooting the fox
in broad daylight and within sight of the public may seem reprehensible and the
need for discretion in ALL pest control assignments is essential.
Was this the right
action?
The debate over
whether this fox should have been shot or not could rage for weeks and months.
There is certainly need to look at the situation closely as the supermarket say that they had foxes attempting to
gain access to the store for some time. They had to act.
The pest control
company brought in to deal with the problem also had to act and according to
the law, they acted within it.
But maybe the
balance was missing here, maybe the pest controller should have recognised the
very public site and changed tack accordingly.
