Cats and dogs are widely treated with insecticides to protect against fleas, with vets often recommending regular flea treatments as a preventive measure, regardless of whether pets have fleas or not.
However, a study has suggested that songbird chicks are being killed by high levels of pesticides in the pet fur used by their parents to line their nests. Researchers looking at the nests for the harmful chemicals found in pet flea treatments found that they were present in every single nest.
Now, scientists from the University of Essex are calling for the government to reassess the environmental risk of pesticides used in flea and tick treatments, as well as look to restrict their use.
It was already known that the chemicals in the treatments were impacting life in rivers and streams after pets swam in them, but the discovery of its consequences on the lives of songbirds will add to the urgency.
Scientists are also recommending that animals be treated for fleas only when they actually have them.
Cannelle Tassin de Montaigu, the lead author of the research paper, said: “No nest was free…
