Couple petitioning to stop 1080 drops

FIGHTERS: Tracie Lee and Darren Page of Masterton, with their petition.

A Masterton couple are hoping their anti-1080 petition, which has gathered hundreds of signatures, will help stop future drops of the poison in New Zealand.

Darren Page and his wife, Tracie Lee, put petitions around Masterton asking people if they were for or against using 1080 poison to eliminate pests.

Mr Page said so far only four out of 200 signatures supported the use of 1080.

The couple had not collected up all the pages of the petition yet and estimated there would be about 500 signatures all together.

They said 1080 had been dropped in the Mangatarere Valley in the past and the poison should be banned in New Zealand, as it was in many other countries.

"We're so far behind. I don't know what it's going to take to get it banned here," said Ms Lee.

Mr Page, a fur trapper, said the 1080 drops had affected his work, which was often in the Mangatarere Valley.

"I won't catch anything because everything has been eradicated."

He said it takes a day to set up 150 fur traps and when he returns to them the next day there are only a couple of possums, if any.

"You find out the area has been 1080ed and they didn't even tell you."

Mr Page said possum fur was some of the best fur in the world and he was worried New Zealand would lose out on fur exports to China.

He said the carcasses of possums that had been "1080ed" were going to waste when they could be utilised and turned into dog food.

"Possum meat has omega 3 in it and is good for dogs."

The couple had concerns of the poison making it into streams and rivers, killing eels, trout and other fish, and also about the unethical way it killed ground animals, like ferrets, lizards, birds, pigs and deer.

"Death with 1080 is not quick, it takes two to three days depending on the size of the animal and is a cruel death," said Mr Page.

"You want to eradicate possums in a humane way, where you can also make money out of them. With 1080 you can't utilise anything."