Pest control on farms affects a wide range of wild and farmed animals. Welfare-conscious approaches minimise collateral harm while achieving necessary pest management goals.
Farm pest control welfare affects both the animals being controlled (typically rodents, corvids, and rabbits) and non-target species caught as bycatch. The welfare of pest species themselves is often dismissed, but rodents are sentient animals that experience fear and pain when trapped or poisoned. Non-target wildlife killed by rodenticides experience slow, painful deaths from internal bleeding. The welfare case for IPM approaches - that reduce chemical use, use more humane trap designs, and promote natural pest controllers - is strong from multiple angles. On many farms, encouraging barn owls, kestrels, and stoats effectively replaces the need for rodenticide use.