US gives initial OK to predator-killing sodium cyanide

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken an initial step to reauthorize a predator-killing poison that injured a boy in eastern Idaho and killed his dog.

The federal agency on Tuesday announced an interim decision involving sodium cyanide that’s used in M-44s.

M-44s are embedded in the ground and look like lawn sprinklers but spray cyanide when triggered by animals attracted by bait smeared on the devices.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services currently isn’t using the devices in Idaho, but they are used in other states.

The Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with a lawsuit filed by environment groups must next determine how the poison and M-44s could harm wildlife protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The family of Canyon Mansfield who was injured by an M-44 in 2017 has filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government.