Commercial fumigation of buildings, ships, and grain stores kills large numbers of rodents, insects, and other animals. Welfare considerations in pest control methods are rarely prioritised.
Commercial pest control kills billions of animals annually through methods that vary enormously in humaneness. Anticoagulant rodenticides produce death over days through internal haemorrhage, a prolonged and presumably distressing process. Glue boards cause slow death through dehydration, starvation, self-injury, and sometimes asphyxiation. These methods are widely available and minimally regulated for consumer use despite their poor welfare profile. Snap traps, CO2 traps, and live-catch-and-release methods offer better welfare outcomes for rodents where control is genuinely necessary. Fumigation, while rapid, kills non-target species indiscriminately. The welfare case for prioritising prevention — exclusion, sanitation, and habitat modification — over lethal control is strong wherever feasible.