LONDON—On the first anniversary of the ban on public use of cruel glue traps for small rodents, an undercover shopping investigation by animal charity Humane World for Animals UK (previously called Humane Society International UK) reveals that hundreds of stores across England are still selling them to the public despite it being a criminal offence for their customers to use them. The law clearly identifies that a valid glue trap licence must be held for glue traps to be used legally. The charity is now calling on the UK Government to ban the sale of glue traps.
Glue traps are designed to capture, but not kill, the target animal/s. Rats and mice can be left struggling for hours or days in the super-strong adhesive, eventually suffocating as the glue clogs up their mouth or nose. Some animals have been found to tear or even to bite off their limbs trying to escape.
The Glue traps (Offences) Act came into force on 31st July 2024, making it an offence for a person to set a glue trap without holding a professional licence, with a penalty of a fine and/or a custodial sentence. The law does not, however, prohibit the sale of rodent glue traps, which Humane World for Animals UK believes undermines the intent of the legislation to prevent extreme and unnecessary animal suffering.
In June this year, Humane World for Animals’ investigators visited or called 55 DIY/hardware stores selected at random in 28 towns and cities across England and Wales. They found that 23 of 50 stores investigated in England confirmed they sold glue traps to the public. None of them explained to the secret shoppers that while the traps can be legally sold, they can no longer be legally used without a pest controller’s license from the Government. All shops offering traps for sale told Humane World for Animals’ shoppers that it would be fine to set the trap outside, despite this creating the risk of non-target species—including birds and cats—getting painfully or even fatally stuck to the strong glue.
When the shoppers asked what they should do with the mice once stuck to the glue, nine shopkeepers suggested that the animals could simply be thrown away alive on the trap, which would be a criminal offence. Two stores selling traps, in Hull and Norwich, referred to stories of animals chewing off their own limbs trying to escape. One store in Brighton, when asked how a mouse might be killed once caught on the trap, explained “I would normally just roll it up and drown it.”
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane World for Animals UK, said: “Based on our investigation it’s likely that across England hundreds of independent DIY, homeware and hardware shops are selling cruel glue traps to members of the public who may be unaware that they could face criminal charges if they use them. It’s especially concerning that some shopkeepers are suggesting to people that they could leave animals on the traps to die slowly in a bin, or even drown them, both of which would be offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
“It’s clear that without a ban on the sale of these cruel traps, thousands of animals who legislators intended to legally protect from horrendous suffering are still subject to cruelty. It also makes a mockery of the costly licensing scheme that Defra has introduced for professional pest controllers. We’re aligned with the British Pest Controllers Association in urging the UK, Welsh and Scottish Governments to agree and deliver a nationwide glue trap sales ban.”
Humane World for Animals UK applauds that none of the five stores surveyed in Wales sold glue traps and all explained that they were illegal and/or cruel and suggested more humane alternatives. Twenty-seven of the stores investigated in England did not stock glue traps.
Notes to editors
- The research focused on independent DIY/hardware stores. To the best of Humane World for Animals’ knowledge, all of the major DIY chains (such as Wickes, B&Q and Robert Dyas) have policies not to sell rodent glue traps.
- Prices ranged from as little as £1 for a pack in Manchester, to £3.99 for a pack near Victoria in London (a short walk from Defra’s offices), with an average national price of around £2.
- Using publicly available sources, Humane World for Animals UK estimates that there are around 6,000 DIY/hardware stores in England, of which around half are smaller independent shops of the type contacted in the investigation. Extrapolating the results from this research, which found that 42% of these stores sell glue traps, it is estimated that 1,260 shops may be selling glue traps in England.
- The Glue Traps (Offences) Act (2022) created powers for the Defra Secretary to issue licenses for pest controllers to use glue traps in certain limited circumstances ‘for the purpose of preserving public health or public safety’ and where ‘there is no other satisfactory solution.’ In June 2024, Defra launched a new licensing scheme to allow professional pest controllers to apply for licenses to use glue traps including certain provisions to reduce the length and severity of suffering experienced by animals caught on the traps. Registering for the licence costs £180 and an individual licence costs £535. Defra also charges £230 for reporting each time the licence is used.
- In Scotland, the 2024 Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act enacted a ban on the (unlicensed) use of glue traps and also a ban on sales. However, these provisions are not yet in force, pending the introduction of a licensing system for professional pest controllers’ use. Further political complications have prevented the law coming into force: in March 2024 the Conservative Government denied the Scottish Government’s request for an exclusion from the UK Internal Markets Act that would allow Scotland to unilaterally ban the sale of glue traps; in December 2024 the Labour Government announced that it would grant an exception but a statutory instrument has not yet been brought forward to deliver this.
- In Wales the use of glue traps was banned by the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023, effective 17th October 2023.