Rodent pest control kills billions of mice and rats annually using methods that cause significant suffering. Humane rodent management approaches can achieve pest control goals while reducing welfare harm.
Rodent pest control causes enormous welfare harm annually through methods that are often poorly regulated and whose welfare costs are invisible to the public. Glue traps cause one of the most prolonged and distressing deaths of any common pest control method, with trapped animals dying over days through dehydration, exhaustion, and self-injury. Anticoagulant rodenticide deaths from internal haemorrhage are similarly prolonged and painful. The welfare case for moving away from these methods to faster-acting traps and electronic kill devices is strong. The secondary poisoning of raptors from anticoagulant-poisoned rodents adds a wildlife welfare dimension to the direct rodent welfare cost. Integrated pest management approaches that focus on excluding rodents from buildings rather than killing them address the root cause of pest problems more effectively.