" Germany has introduced laws making it illegal to kill ants and has hired 85 Ant Protection Officers. Homeowners and gardeners who attempt to destroy an ant hill or underground nest will face hefty fines if caught.They must apply for a permit to have the ants carefully relocated to local woods." [ taken from the summer 03 issue of the COHA FIELD NEWS] ..... anybody scared yet, cause in time the ARA will try this one in North America.
Ant killer costs store owner $12,000
Dave Hogan fined for breaking Quebec' s pesticides law
Erin Conway-Smith
The Ottawa Citizen; with files from CanWest News Service
Sunday, August 03, 2003
CREDIT: Simon Hayter, The Ottawa Citizen
Dave Hogan, owner of Quincaillerie Chelsea, is facing huge fines after running afoul of Quebec' s strict pesticides law.
The owner of a small hardware store in Chelsea has been fined $12,000 for selling common household products to kill ants, wasps and hornets without a permit.
Dave Hogan, owner of Quincaillerie Chelsea, was notified by mail a few weeks ago that in June a Quebec court found him guilty of breaking the province' s pesticides laws.
The hardware store received the minimum fine of $4,000 for selling pesticide products, including 85-millilitre bottles of Super Ant Killer and cans of Raid Wasp and Hornet Killer, on three occasions between March 29, 2001 and Oct. 8, 2002.
Mr. Hogan said the fine, which with added court costs comes to $15,138, represents about three years' worth of net profits for the store.
" This could bankrupt me," he said. " This is a small town hardware store. You don' t make big money at it, so when something like this comes along, my God!"
Under Quebec' s pesticides laws, permits and special training for employees have been required for the commercial sale of pesticides since 1987.
Mr. Hogan took over Quincaillerie Chelsea in 2002 and was soon informed by the Environment Department that a permit for selling pesticides held by the former owner had expired. Mr. Hogan told staff to remove offending pesticide products from the shelf.
He said his suppliers told him that products he subsequently purchased did not require a permit for sale, and added he wasn' t aware of what products fell under the pesticide laws.
" It' s so ridiculous," he said. " You' d think we were selling chemical weapons.
" You can buy this stuff in any Canadian Tire Store, and a kid can walk in and buy it and then go down the road and do anything they like with it."
Marc Dubreuil, director of the environment department' s Outaouais regional office, said cases under the pesticides laws are dealt with as they are reported.
Mr. Dubreuil said his department gave Mr. Hogan ample warning to either get one of his employees certified to sell pesticides or to stop selling the products altogether.
Mr. Hogan has until Sept. 7 to pay the fine, but said he is working with a lawyer and will appeal the court' s decision.
" If I' m at fault, I will cover it," he said. " In this case, I was not wrong, and I shouldn' t be prosecuted."
Quebec Ministry of Environment officials said the fine levied on Mr. Hogan' s store is not part of a crackdown due to the province' s tough new Pesticide Code, which came into effect in April.
The new code will make the sale of most commonly used household pesticides illegal in Quebec by April 2006.
How do you move ants? Whistle at them? Point and yell, " Westward ho, the ants?" Get the girl ants to dress up in ant hot pants and walk out the door, thereby getting the boy ants to follow?
Beats me, and it beats Nancy Owen, too. Nancy owns Alegra' s Bridal & Invitations in the Tarrytown Shopping Center. She has an ant problem. " I' m standing at the counter, and ants are walking over my order forms while I' m trying to write an order for my customers," Nancy said. " It got to where I didn' t even want to come to work."
Nancy says Jeanne Daniels, the animal rights maven who owns the mall, won' t let her exterminate her ants the way she would prefer to exterminate the ants, that is, to spray both inside and outside. She also says she got word that Daniels would prefer that she move the ants.
" The words were, they wanted the ants relocated," Nancy said. " We really wanted to move them to her house, but we didn' t know where she lived."
So Nancy, who isn' t allowed to sell leather products in her store, is relocating herself on Sept. 1 "” to a new shop on Mesa Drive at Spicewood Springs Road.
Nancy put this stipulation in her new lease so that she won' t get bugged again, so to speak: " Tenant will not be hampered from selling any products due to the dietary habits of the landlord or owner and may exterminate in any way deemed reasonable."
Nancy has never spoken with Daniels, but she said she got the word that Daniels wanted the ants relocated from the maintenance man. " We have a really nice little maintenance guy who comes around," Nancy said. " And I said, ' Just tell her we moved them. We' ll kill the ants and just tell her we moved them and that' s the end of that.' And he said, ' No, she' ll want to know how we moved them.' "
As usual, Daniels, whom I refer to as the Meat Lady, could not be reached for comment. She doesn' t call. She doesn' t write. I have done everything but stalk her to try to interview her. She loves dogs. I' m thinking of putting on a German shepherd suit so I can sneak up to her house in Houston.
" This has become such an uncomfortable place for humans that the shopping center is facing a downturn of sorts," Nancy said.
At least three businesses "” two restaurants and a grocery/deli "” have left the mall over the past few years because they were selling meat and Daniels wouldn' t allow it. The Holiday House, which does burgers and such in the mall, is remodeling a new location in West Lake Hills, on Bee Cave Road at Walsh Tarleton, which is expected to open sometime around Aug. 15-20. So don' t be surprised if the Tarrytown Holiday House closes when its lease expires.
So how do you move ants? " I guess you could cover yourself with honey and lie on the floor, and once you get outside you could shake them off," said Steve O' Brien, branch manager for Terminix International, an exterminating business.
" Maybe you could have an ant wedding. Invite the in-laws, and maybe the rest of them would leave. Or find someone who has an anteater."
a little Amdro in your pocket with a small hole in it,as you walk it will dribble out in the right spots,ant problem " OVER" !!!!!![:-][X(][X(][X(][X(]
__________________
I am not a hunter ; I am a whitetail population reduction specialest
remember keep your back to the sun, your knife sharp, and your powder dry.
Unbeliveable....ant police
]
