Pest control often involves significant animal welfare harm. Evidence-based humane alternatives can achieve effective pest management while minimizing suffering.
Pest control involves deliberate killing of animals considered pests, raising welfare questions that are frequently dismissed because the animals are unwanted. However, the welfare harm of traditional methods is significant and often unnecessary - glue traps cause particularly prolonged suffering that has no justification when alternatives exist. The welfare case for humane pest management includes minimizing suffering in all interventions, prioritizing exclusion over killing, and when killing is necessary, using methods that cause rapid unconsciousness. The bioaccumulation of rodenticides also causes secondary welfare harm to predator species that consume poisoned rodents, extending the welfare harm beyond the intended target species.