Julie's Sharebook 

The SPCA has come out against a planned $210,000 aerial drop of the controversial poison 1080 by the Department of Conservation in Kahurangi National Park.

DOC plans a possum-control operation in 18-20,000ha of the national park, of which about 75 percent will be covered by an aerial 1080 drop this winter.

Robyn Kippenberger, national head of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says the use of the poison in areas where deer are present is "totally unacceptable" on grounds of cruelty.

Ms Kippenberger, who is to consult the Minister of Conservation on the issue, said research had documented that deer took two days to die a "very prolonged, painful death" from 1080.

"We're asking the minister to look closely at DOC's commitment to reduce, refine and replace 1080, to stop dropping it in areas with no TB, and to look at other ways to control deer," she said.

"They're using it to control far more than possums. 1080 was never supposed to be used like a driftnet.

Ms Kippenberger said the poison was banned in almost every other country.

But DOC biodiversity animal threats ranger Steve Deverell said a five-year review by an Environmental Risk Management Authority panel had sanctioned the use of the poison.

"The animal welfare issue (of 1080 use) was accepted as a valid concern," Mr Deverell said, "but it has been assessed independently and it was found to be within the animal ethics boundaries.

"The paramount issue is the control of possums for the benefit of conservation."

He said that ground-control poisoning was being used where possible, and 1080 was being applied in areas of steep, less accessible terrain.

Using cyanide in these inaccessible areas would involve abseiling down cliffs, which would be "risking people's lives".

Mr Deverell said ground birds such as kiwi and weka could be killed by the cyanide bait.

He said deer repellent was not being used because a directive from the Minister of Conservation only permitted it in specified recreational hunting areas, which did not include the Cobb Valley.

Golden Bay Deerstalkers' Association president Wayne Sixtus said it was pleased that ground control with cholecalciferol was being used in the Cobb Valley and Tablelands.

"For the public to have lost that last hunting area would have been devastating," he said. "We have negotiated with DOC about the whole process and we have a reasonable outcome. The Kahurangi National Park has a low density of deer."

Golden Bay anti-1080 campaigner Bill Climo, who formerly worked in pest control, said he had used 1080 in the past and was now opposed to it because of his personal experience.

"It takes a deer two days to die and it dies in absolute agony," he said.

"Even a possum takes up to a day to die, whereas cyanide kills within 10 minutes to half an hour."