Pest control kills billions of rodents, insects, and other animals annually — often through methods causing significant suffering — raising welfare questions that are rarely addressed.
Pest control causes enormous suffering that receives little welfare attention due to the pest status of target animals. Glue traps cause hours to days of agonized struggling. Anticoagulant rodenticides cause slow hemorrhagic death over days. Snap traps and CO2 can be humane when properly used. The welfare of pest species deserves consideration proportionate to their sentience and the scale of killing involved.