Barbaric rodent glue traps to be banned in England following unanimous House of Lords support
NEWS: The use of glue traps to catch mice, rats and other rodents by anyone without a pest control licence is set to be banned in England, with breaches of the new law carrying a fine or up to a year in prison.
The government-backed Private Members Bill received a unanimous vote at its final reading in the House of Lords, the UK parliament’s second chamber, and has been welcomed by animal charity Humane Society International/UK (HSI/UK).
It is a significant win for animal justice campaigners, including the HSI/UK which led the “Unstuck” campaign to end the public use of the “inhumane, indiscriminate and indefensible” glue boards.
Glue traps work by immobilising small mammals on strong adhesive, leading to suffocation, the ripping off of skin and fur, and broken limbs as they desperately attempt to escape.
The potential to cause prolonged and extreme animal suffering is enormous, yet glue traps are still widely sold to the public online and in DIY or corner shops for as little as 99p making them a tempting solution for people who choose not to use the more expensive no-kill traps.
Glue traps also pose a significant danger to other species, with many reports every year of protected and endangered species like hedgehogs, wild birds and bats, and even pet cats being trapped and suffering fatal injuries.
The legislation contains a limited exemption for so-called “pest” control operatives to apply to the Secretary of State for a licence to use a glue trap, which may be granted where there is “no other satisfactory solution” and where the action is required for “the purpose of preserving public health or safety”. The exemption mirrors that of the 2015 glue trap ban in New Zealand, where glue trap licences have fallen year on year since the ban’s introduction, with no approvals for use in 2021.
“Glue traps are crude devices that cause horrific suffering to millions of animals. It is absolutely right that their public use will be banned, and we hope this will precipitate their removal from sale by retailers since it will be illegal for their customers to use them,” said Claire Bass, executive director of Humane Society International/UK.
“It is immoral to subject small, sentient wildlife to being immobilised on these sticky boards, only to suffocate in the glue, die slowly of their injuries, or be ineptly killed by unprepared members of the public who resort to drowning or throwing them in the rubbish while still alive. The licensing regime for glue trap use by the ‘pest’ control industry will need to be strictly managed to ensure that these cruel products are no longer casually used with impunity.”
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The new law will make it an offence in England for anyone without a licence to set a glue trap to either deliberately or accidentally catch a rodent, with a fine and/or up to 51 weeks in prison. Finding a glue trap but failing to disable it will also constitute an offence.
Naturalist and campaigner Chris Packham joined HSI/UK in welcoming the ban, saying: “When wildlife, like mice and rats, are successful at living alongside humans, we label them ‘pests’ or ‘vermin’ and seem to think that’s a green light to completely disregard their welfare. Glue traps are a prime example of this. That attitude has to change. I commend HSI/UK on their Unstuck campaign victory and I’m delighted that cruel and unnecessary glue traps will now be taken out of public use, prompting a more compassionate and also effective approach to dealing with unwanted wildlife. This law is great news for mice and rats, but also for the many unintended victims who get stuck in the glue, such as delicate birds, grass snakes, frogs and hedgehogs.”
Conservative MP Jane Stevenson, who sponsored the Bill, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that my Glue Traps Bill has passed its Third Reading, meaning it will soon receive Royal Assent and become law. The banning of the use of glue traps by the general public is another step forward in the strengthening of animal welfare legislation in England, and I want to thank everyone involved in making this happen. The use of glue traps is cruel and barbaric, and has often led to animals not intended to be caught in these traps dying in the most inhumane way. Together with ministers at Defra and organisations such as HSI/UK, the RSPCA and others, I am pleased to have made a positive difference.”
Rather than use traps and other methods as a way to control the numbers of rodents in human spaces - which rarely offer permanent solutions to the problem - HSI/UK advocates for an ethical approach to addressing the root cause of problems through human behaviour change strategies and wildlife control and mitigation measures that are humane such as removing food sources and blocking access holes.
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.
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