Cat and Owner Suspect Pesticide Origin in their Illnesses

Kathy Jordan suspects pesticides caused health problems for both her and her childhood cat. Although both recovered, the allure of a chemically-treated lawn is no longer the same for her.

"In the 1980's my next-door neighbors hired Chemlawn on a regular basis. I was a child and because their grass was so lovely and carpet-like, I spent more time in their yard than in my own.

At that time, there was no warning to stay off of the grass after treatment, and so no one ever instructed me or my neighborhood friends to avoid the treated grass. During summer vacations, I remember spending hours lying in their grass, playing tag with my friends, etc. I even loved the smell of Chemlawn, because of the positive associations I had with it.

One day, when I came home from school, my parents told me that our cat had been taken to the vet because he'd been sprayed with Chemlawn. He was clearly sick after having contact with the spray. My cat recovered, and because I was a child, I didn't think twice about the chemicals' effect on humans. I continued to spend lots of time in my neighbors' yard.

In 1989, at the age of 16, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I spent the next year battling cancer instead of being a happy, healthy teenager.

No one can say for sure what caused my cancer, but the thought has crossed my mind many times that it might have been the chemicals sprayed on my neighbors' lawn.

Since then, I have been a strong believer in keeping green areas natural.
Chemicals do not belong where children play.

Lawn Chemicals Also Pose Danger to Rabbits

We received several letters from animal lovers concerned about the hazards that lawn chemicals pose to animals other than cats and dogs, especially rabbits.

Colleen, from Australia:

"As a rabbit lover, I am concerned about your failure to include rabbits along with cats and dogs in the chemicals on lawns issue. Rabbits are much loved pets and very susceptible to contact with these dangerous chemicals and the dangers involved to them. They eat the grass and plants and are ingesting these cancer causing agents into their small bodies. I therefore plead with you to include rabbits in this issue, they cannot speak for themselves."


Bunny Hugs, Fiver, and Ms. Bea:

"Please add us Bunnies to your list! We are just as good as our friends the dogs and cats."


Lana Lehr and RabbitWise:

"As the third most popular companion animal in the USA, we rabbits are also concerned about chemicals on lawns project and their effect on us animals. We rabbits even eat the grass and other plants that we find around our yards. Many of us have outside time on the grass.

Sincerely,

All Da' Bunz"

Unmarked Pesticide Application Potentially Leads to Death of Rat Terrier

Debbie Green Mitchel from Indiana suspects that a pesticide sprayal on her neighbor's lawn may have been the cause of her beloved Kikki.

"The chemicals used to treat a neighboring yard open to the public caused the death of our littlest family member. Our five year old beloved Rat Terrier, Kikki, was in perfect health.

My eleven year old daughter always walked her on our neighbor's lawn. That day, we had no warning it had been sprayed earlier, and I was at work.

Last year, our neighbors were able to warn us when their lawn was sprayed, but we did not get any warning this year. As a result, Kikki lost her life. I never dreamed this was possible."

The contamination took effect quickly. "In just two days she was gone, but had showed few signs of being poisoned. She had stopped eating well, but was a picky little girl. She did drink water, but had no energy.

Debbie decided to take Kikki to the veterinarian's, but it was already too late. "The morning I was going to take her to the vet, she was dead. I buried her last Saturday...the HARDEST thing I have ever done in my life! She is so missed!

The company should be required to at least post a warning sign. I have seen no rabbits since they sprayed that yard either. The yard is half an acre, unfenced, and a tragedy waiting to happen. I have been numb with a fuzzy mind all week due to their lack of concern with the use of such harmful chemicals."