Policy background
- The Act takes forward the Government’s policy to restrict the use of glue traps as a means of pest control, as set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published 12 May 2021. This is part of a broader approach to maintain and enhance the UK’s high animal welfare standards.
- A glue trap is a board, often made of cardboard or plastic, on which a non-drying glue is applied. This is then placed, normally on the floor but also on other flat surfaces, so that small rodents – rats or mice – which walk on to them are unable to escape as their fur or limbs get stuck to the glue. They are distinct from most ‘sticky insect traps’ which target e.g. aphids and flies through adhesive substances being applied to both sides of a thin piece of card or tape which tends to be stood or hung vertically. The insects fly on to the trap and stick to the adhesive.
- Glue traps are currently a lawful method of control for rodents in the UK and can be bought easily and cheaply online, in some high street retailers and in local corner shops. They are currently used as a means of rodent control in domestic and business (e.g. restaurant) settings. Many professional pest controllers also use rodent glue traps.
- Glue traps are considered inhumane by animal welfare groups and many other stakeholders. According to the British Veterinary Association (BVA) rodents caught by glue traps can suffer from "torn skin, broken limbs and hair removal and die a slow and painful death from suffocation, starvation, exhaustion and even self–mutilation." Non-target species can also be captured by glue traps when used improperly. The RSPCA alone has received around 200 reports of non-target species being caught, often fatally, in the last five years including wild birds, hedgehogs and pet cats.
- The use of glue traps may however be necessary when speed of capture of rodents is important, in order to prevent a serious risk to public health or public safety (e.g. in places with critical infrastructure involving wiring and electrics where there is a danger of gnawing damage and in extremis, fire – perhaps a data centre or a power station control room). This is the reason for including a licensing regime to allow professional pest controllers to use glue traps in exceptional circumstances, when necessary to preserve public health or public safety, where there is no satisfactory alternative. Through the licence conditions, it will be possible to impose conditions on their use in order to minimise any detrimental impacts on animal welfare, such as the regular monitoring of glue traps that have been set.
