Glue Traps – Briefing Note

Glue Traps – Briefing Note

Each year, millions of rodents and other animals suffer from inhumane pest control methods. Although mice and rats can pose health risks, they experience pain and distress like any other animal (Baumans et al., 1994; Kohn et al. 2007; Committee on Recognition and Alleviation of Distress in Laboratory Animals 2008), and they deserve to be treated humanely.

Thanks to the action of local governments and residents, the provincial government recently banned almost all use of the most harmful second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, which cause slow, painful deaths for rodents and other animals like owls, eagles, cougars, cats and dogs through primary (eating the rodenticide bait) and secondary (eating poisoned rodents) poisoning.

However, other inhumane methods of rodent control are still legal and commonly used across British Columbia. Glue traps cause severe pain and suffering to rodents and other non-target animals who are caught in them (Mason & Littin, 2003).

• Both professionals and members of the public typically leave glue traps unattended and do not check them regularly.
• Glue traps are designed to capture animals, not kill them. Most members of the public do not know how and are not prepared to humanely kill animals caught in glue traps.
• Captured animals suffer physical injuries, including breaking bones or chewing off limbs, while struggling to free themselves from glue traps.
• Captured animals may live for more than 24 hours before dying from suffocation, dehydration, starvation, exhaustion or exposure (Frantz & Padula, 1983; Timms 1194a, 1994b).
• Glue traps also capture and cause suffering and inhumane death to non-target animals like birds, bats, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and household pets. It is difficult to free non-target animals even with the expert help of veterinarians and wildlife rehabilitators.

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) states that glue traps do not meet scientific criteria for humaneness, as they can cause high levels of pain and distress, require a prolonged time to be effective, and result in significant negative health effects in non-target animals (CVMA 2022). The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) advises that glue traps are not an acceptable means of killing vertebrate animals (AVMA 2020).

The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) believes that methods of rodent and wildlife management that prolong suffering or cause excessive discomfort are unacceptable, as are those that endanger non-target wildlife (BC SPCA 2020). The BC SPCA does not use glue traps in any of its’ 40+ locations, and the District of North Vancouver’s Pest Management Policy prohibits the use of glue traps on District-owned property. Internationally, glue traps have been banned in Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, England, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Wales and parts of Australia and India.

The most effective and humane way to control mice and rats is to prevent access before it occurs by rodent-proofing homes, offices and cars to make them less attractive to rodents. Using glue traps without addressing the root causes of a rodent infestation will only result in an endless cycle of trapping, suffering and inhumane death. If rodents have already become established, the BC SPCA’s AnimalKind program recommends using humane, evidence-based control and exclusion methods, and provides key questions to ask pest control companies to determine if they use humane practices. AnimalKind also provides resources to help municipalities develop wildlife-friendly and humane municipal pest control strategies.