vulture
WILDLIFE: Six turkey vultures were treated at Wildcare for pentobarbitol poisoning, the result of eating carrion that was euthanized—likely livestock—in recent months. The Department of Fish and Wildlife and the county farm bureau are urging people to properly dispose of animals.   Photo Illustration by David Briggs

After turkey vultures were found poisoned by euthanasia in recent months throughout Marin County, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is urging residents to properly dispose of euthanized animals. The vultures were found comatose, mostly in central Marin but as far west as Fairfax, and lab results indicated poisoning by pentobarbital, a drug used frequently by veterinarians to euthanize livestock, horses and house pets. As scavengers, turkey vultures act as “nature’s garbage men” by…