Glue Traps Are Cruel

    It never ceases to amaze how people treat animals.  There’s:  dog/cock fighting, factory farming (awful living conditions), unnecessary lab experiments (for cosmetics), rodeos, bear traps, seal clubbing (for fur), hunting for sport, closet-like living conditions for calves and pigs awaiting slaughter, duck force feeding and the list goes on and on.  One particularly cruel example are glue traps: 

    The trapped rodent (and sometimes other creatures like birds, snakes and lizards) suffers from dehydration, exhaustion, exposure, suffocation and starvation prior to death.  Attacking insects (including fleas) make the torment even worse. During the struggle to escape, they may pull out their own hair thus exposing bare, raw areas of skin and the glue can injure their eyes.  Sometimes glue lodges in their nasal passages and they suffocate to death (can take up to 3 to 5 hours).  They may even resort to biting off their own leg(s) to free themselves. They may also die of exhaustion resulting from prolonged struggling to escape.  The rodents also defecate and urinate, because of severe stress and fear, and become covered with their own excrement (a health concern for humans).  The rodent suffers for about three to five days before it dies.  And finally, if still alive, they have been known to cry loudly when the boards are collected.       

    Veterinarians ardently oppose the use of glue traps.  One stated:  "Because all mammals have similar nervous systems, they are capable of experiencing the same type of pain and suffering. Thus, rodents suffer as much as any other mammal and are capable of being traumatized and abused".   (Can you imagine being stuck to the floor and left to die with no means of escape?  Wouldn’t that prospect be
terrifying?) 

    There are humane traps.  The old fashion spring loaded trap, a newer device sold as the “Mouth” or “Jaws” or “Jawz” Trap and the electric shock trap.  All are effective killers with the death being immediate.  The carcass can be easily removed and the trap re-used.  There are also capture devices allowing transportation and release to another location.    

    An article from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) reads: "Glue boards (also known as glue traps) might seem like a safe solution to ridding your home of uninvited guests of the crawling, flying or scurrying sort but they are the cruelest."  Please read additional information on the HSUS web site:   http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/facts/glue_boards.html 

    Here are some ways you can help prevent the spread and use of glue boards:  1) If your local hardware, home improvement, or grocery store sells glue boards inform the store manager or owner, via mail, phone or in person, that these devices are inhumane and explain why.  2) If you find glue boards advertised on a website, email the website manager and address humane concerns.  3) If your property manager/condo association has contracted for rodent control, ask what methodsthe contractor will use and discourage glue trap use.  4) Send letters-to-the-editor and articles to newspapers and web sites discouraging the use of these traps.   5) Distribute/ post flyers at public locations.  6) Complain to distributors and manufactures of glue traps (some manufactures are Motomco, J.T. Eaton and Victor).   7) Spread the word by any means possible (feel free to use this article).  

    It is sad that an overpowering desire for convenience in our society could create such a thing as a glue trap.  And it is doubly sad that someone, knowledgeable of the suffering this device causes, would still manufacture, sell or use such a thing. 

Please see my website at www.stevesanimalwelfare.info for more articles