Glue traps used for rodent and insect pest control are among the most welfare-compromising pest control methods available, causing prolonged suffering in target and non-target species.
Glue trap welfare is unambiguously poor. Animals caught in glue traps cannot escape and suffer for extended periods — from hours to days — before dying from dehydration, exhaustion, hyperthermia, or the injuries they sustain attempting to escape. Birds and small mammals caught on glue traps pull off feathers and skin in escape attempts. The alternatives — snap traps that kill within milliseconds and live traps with prompt humane euthanasia — achieve the same pest control objective with dramatically lower welfare cost. No pest control objective justifies glue trap use when alternatives are available. Legislative bans in multiple European countries reflect this welfare consensus.