The Rat Bait Ban: What It Means for Pets in the St George Area

What Changed in March 2026

From 24 March 2026, the registration of all products containing second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) has been suspended for one year. These are the most potent rat baits — products containing brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, difethialone, or flocoumafen. Major retailers including Bunnings, Woolworths, and Coles are required to pull them from shelves.

What this does not mean:

• Products already bought and sitting in homes, sheds, and garages across Ramsgate, Kogarah Bay, Sandringham, Dolls Point, and Sans Souci can still be legally used
• Licensed pest controllers still have full access to SGARs — and they are actively treating properties across the St George area as autumn rodent season begins
• SGARs can remain active in a dead rodent for up to 12 months, meaning rats that have already eaten bait are still a hazard long after they die

Why This Area Is Higher Risk

Ramsgate, Kogarah, and Sans Souci are surrounded on three sides by water — Kogarah Bay, the Georges River, and Botany Bay. As the weather cools in autumn, rats move from waterway vegetation and the Cook Park foreshore into residential gardens, roof voids, and subfloors of the houses throughout the area. This is a consistent seasonal pattern in suburbs like Ramsgate Beach, Monterey, Beverley Park, and Rockdale.

At the same time, many households across these suburbs have existing rat bait in garden sheds or deployed along fence lines from treatments earlier in the year — and professional pest controllers are still applying strong products to homes and businesses throughout Kogarah, Sans Souci, and surrounding areas.

How Your Dog Can Be Poisoned

• Direct ingestion — a dog that sniffs out a bait station in a neighbour's yard, along a fence line in Ramsgate or Beverley Park, or in a garden shed can eat enough to become seriously ill
• Secondary poisoning — eating a dead or dying rat that has consumed bait; particularly relevant for dogs exercising along the Cook Park foreshore or Georges River bank in Sans Souci and Dolls Point
• Signs may not appear for three to seven days after ingestion — by which time internal bleeding may already be occurring in the abdomen, chest, or lungs
• Visible signs to watch for: pale gums, unusual lethargy, laboured breathing, swollen joints, nosebleeds, blood in stool or urine

How Your Cat Can Be Poisoned

• Cats in Ramsgate, Monterey, and Sandringham that hunt at night are at risk from eating poisoned rats — this is called relay toxicosis
• Anticoagulant rodenticides accumulate in the liver of rodents, and a cat that eats multiple poisoned rats over time can build up a dangerous dose
• The Cook Park garden beds, Georges River bank, and suburban backyards throughout the area are active hunting territory for semi-outdoor cats
• Keeping your cat inside overnight during autumn is the most practical step you can take

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