June 21, 2008

More than 10,000 pets die annually from antifreeze poisoning as lawmakers quibble over state versus federal legislation to make the substance safer. (Pet Pulse Photo by John Parker, Illustration by Mike Lloyd)

ALBUQUERQUE –- Vital to cooling an engine in the summer and keeping it from freezing in the winter, antifreeze is a vehicle’s life blood, but it takes the lives of 10 to 90 thousand animals each year.

Currently, only eight states have passed laws to make the liquid additive less appealing by smell and taste. While the U.S. Senate has talked about legislative action, it has done very little.

But Kathy McCoy is determined to make a difference for the sake of her golden retriever, Cujo, who died 20 years ago from ingesting the fatal chemical.

“I didn’t have the faintest idea what I was seeing when I first saw him … but he was obviously in pain, so I took him to the vet,” said McCoy, who also is a New Mexico State Representative, (R).

While so much time has passed, what happened has been hard to forget.

“For about a week we watched him suffer through this … and we finally lost him,” McCoy said.

It is a tragedy that McCoy still doesn’t know how it exactly happened, but this dog lover, and state politician, did what she could to save other animals.

She sponsored a bill requiring manufacturers to add a bittering agent to the normally sweet tasting liquid, making it as unappealing as possible to potential victims.

Her colleagues in the New Mexico State House passed the bill unanimously and Governor Bill Richardson signed it into law March 31, 2005, with the law taking effect January 2006.

Fortunately, the bill and subsequent law was widely supported by the antifreeze industry.
“So I think it was a win-win for everybody,” McCoy said.

The danger with antifreeze is in the potency of the chemical components, where less than a teaspoon --about the same about of spilling a couple drops -- could be enough to kill a pet.

Since every drop of antifreeze is potentially toxic, even the smallest amount sets off a chain reaction.

It acts like alcohol in the liver, so at first the pet might seem drunk, but then the toxins spread throughout the body.

“Even if they’re brought into the vet early and it’s suspected and treated right away, there’s no guarantee that they’ll live,” said Dr. Bill Torgerson, veterinarian, American Humane Association. “And the agony they go through in the process of having neurological damage and kidney failure and bleeding and vomiting and pain is pretty horrific.”

In 2005, the U.S. Senate held a hearing on the “Bittering Agent Act of 2005,” which required the same bittering agent that New Mexico had already approved -- denatonium benzoate, the world's most bitter substance.

But there were questions about the possible impact of the agent on the environment and the proposal never left the subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Product Safety, and Insurance.

Since then, several states have joined New Mexico in passing their own legislation, including Tenneesee, Washington and New Jersey just this year.

“There is no reason for this to be happening,” said McCoy, who testified at the Senate hearing. “This is so easily fixed.”

She is disappointed Congress has done nothing since -- as are many animal welfare groups.

While thousands of pets are safer, with eight states addressing the issue in their laws, critics say the legislation is patchwork, and obviously does not cover animals in the states that have no law.

“I absolutely think this should be done at the federal level,” McCoy said.
Federal legislation, requiring every state to be on board, advocates say would make it possible to save so many more lives.

This position resonates deeply with the antifreeze industry, which cannot handle state-by-state differences in antifreeze regulations, according to Prestone Vice President Jeffrey Bye during the Senate hearing.

“The people that are concerned about animals and their protection win; and we win, as manufacturers, because we have uniform direction on what to do,” said Bye in the 2005 subcommittee hearing.

“The retailers win, because they get a unified product,” Bye said in testimony. “And the end-consumer wins, because their animals will get better protection, and they will not have to pay any additional cost for a resulting myriad of products that could result without this legislation.”

Currently, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, California, Maine, New Jersey, Tennessee and Washington are among the eight states with antifreeze legislation.

While political wrangling continues, pet owners can lesson the dangers of antifreeze -- which is estimated to also kills nearly 1,400 children a year -- by buying products with less toxic components.

Antifreeze containing propylene glycol is the safer choice and has a bitter taste, opposed to ethylene glycol.

One brand recommended by the American Humane Association is Sierra’s antifreeze.

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