'Barbaric' rodent glue traps banned after campaign by Black Country MP
The "barbaric" use of glue traps to catch mice and rats has been banned after legislation put forward by a Black Country MP was backed in parliament.
Jane Stevenson's private members bill went through the Commons with unanimous support and has now been passed into law.
Glue traps – which frequently kill small mammals by getting them stuck in strong adhesive – are often used as a means of pest control, but have been branded "inhumane, indiscriminate and indefensible" by animal welfare bodies.
Wolverhampton North East MP Ms Stevenson bill to ban them was backed by ministers as well as leading animal welfare charities and organisations including the RSPCA, Humane Society International (HSI) and the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation.
Ms Stevenson said the ban was a "significant step forward in the strengthening of animal welfare in England", saying the traps "often lead to unintended other animals getting caught in them and dying slow and painful deaths in considerable distress".
The Conservative MP said she was "absolutely thrilled" that the Glue Traps Bill had been granted Royal Assent.
She added: "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 agencies such as the RSPCA, HSI and others, I am pleased to have made a positive difference."
Claire Bass, executive director of HSI/UK, said: “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.
"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."
The new law makes it an offence in England for a member of the public or any pest controller without a licence to set a glue trap to either deliberately or accidentally catch a rodent. Doing so could lead to a fine and/or up to 51 weeks in prison. Discovering a glue trap but failing, without reasonable excuse, to ensure it is disabled also constitutes an offence.
Ms Stevenson says she hopes Wales and Scotland will follow suit with their own ban on glue traps.
