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Success: Shop fined €500 for unlawful glue traps
12 November 2009 A shop reported by ICABS for offering unlawful glue traps for sale has been fined €500. The National Parks and Wildlife Service outlined that a man pleaded guilty at Letterkenny District Court to having the traps on his premises and offering them for sale. He was charged with a breach of Section 34 (6) of the Wildlife Act 1976 and Section 42(F) of the Wildlife Amendment Act 2000 and was convicted and fined after pleading guilty. ICABS applauds the member of the public who originally brought the shop in question to our attention. We also thank the NPWS conservation rangers involved in this latest successful trap-related court case. Glue traps (also known as glue boards) are one of the world's most inhumane traps. Among the victims are mice, rats, small mammals, birds and pets. In a futile effort to escape from the sticky base, creatures may bite off their own limbs. Help us ensure that glue traps remain off the shelves of Irish shops. Please read on to find out how you can help. Action Alert: Help keep glue traps out of Ireland Please help rid Ireland of glue traps - one of the world's most cruel and inhumane traps. Visit your local hardware stores, discount shops, pet supply outlets, builder provider stores, etc to make sure that these illegal traps are not being sold. If you spot glue traps (also known as glue boards) for sale, please contact ICABS immediately with the details and we will pass them on to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Also, if you are aware of any company or individual using glue traps, please get in touch with us now. Glue traps are designed to catch mice and rats in a sticky base where they will suffer a slow, lingering death. Rodents caught in the traps frantically struggle to free themselves by pulling out their hair or biting off their own limbs. If they don't die from these injuries or from suffocation due to their faces becoming stuck in the glue, they spend days dying from starvation and dehydration. Veterinary surgeons who have condemned the traps have confirmed that "there is much suffering by the entrapped animals - it is not a sudden or merciful death...Because all mammals have similar nervous systems, they are capable of experiencing the same type of pain and suffering." ICABS has reported numerous shops selling the traps and our efforts have led to their removal from sale in a number of retail outlets. Help us to ensure that glue traps remain off shop shelves.
Videos: Glue Trap Cruelty Warning: These videos show live mice caught in glue traps. Some may find the footage particularly upsetting. They are shown here to convey the absolute cruelty of glue traps. Videos showing the cruelty of glue traps. Glue traps are unlawful in Ireland. If you are aware of any Irish company using these or any Irish shops selling them, please let us know at info@banbloodsports.com
Photos: Glue trap packaging Note: This is just a selection of glue trap packaging. Please look out for other packaging too.
Section 42(f) of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000 "Any person who imports into the State from outside the European Union, or has in his possession other than pursuant to, and in accordance with, a licence granted by the Minister in that behalf, or who in the course of his trade or business sells or offers for sale a trap, snare or net which pursuant to subsection (4) of this section is for the time being declared by the Minister to be a trap, snare or net to which this subsection applies shall be guilty of an offence." [Read the full text of the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000] Glue trap cruelty: Quotes "I walked in on a desperate, terrified mouse glued to the trap, struggling hopelessly for its life. Its legs were going as fast as they possibly could. And the harder it tried to escape, the more stuck it became. Its terror multiplied tenfold when it saw me...I never forgot that experience and I've been bitterly opposed to the sale and manufacture of glue traps ever since." (from an article by George Shea, The Pet Gazette, October 2005) "A 1983 test that evaluated the effectiveness of glue traps found that trapped mice struggling to free themselves would pull out their own hair, exposing bare, raw areas of skin. The mice broke or even bit off their own legs, and the glue caused their eyes to become badly irritated and scarred. After three to five hours in the glue traps, the mice defecated and urinated heavily because of their severe stress and fear, and quickly became covered with their own excrement. Animals whose faces become stuck in the glue slowly suffocate, and all trapped animals are subject to starvation and dehydration. It takes anywhere from three to five days for the mouse to finally die. This is nothing less than torture." (from the "In Defense of Animals (USA)" website) "I received a phone call from an upset woman who found a mouse stuck in a glue trap...She handed me the glue trap, with the small, frail mouse's tiny feet and his bony body hopelessly stuck to the ghastly contraption. Some of his foot had been torn off (from struggling to free himself from the glue). One entire side of his face was stuck to the glue board. He was having difficulty breathing. It appeared that this poor mouse had been lingering in agony, stuck to this trap for days and was dehydrated, perhaps dying." (Animals In Print Newsletter)
More illegal animal traps: Please report these immediately
Help keep illegal traps out of Ireland. If you see any of the following traps for sale in Irish shops (or being used here) please report them immediately - Nooski trap, electronic mouse and rat killers, glue traps and glue boards, the Mousemaster trap, unstopped snares, leghold traps.
Anyone found importing, possessing and/or offering for sale any of the following
traps faces prosecution under the Wildlife Act. We appeal to members of
the public with information on unlawful traps to please get in touch
with us now or directly contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service
(Tel: 01-8882000 / www.npws.ie / natureconservation@environ.ie).
Note: This is not a complete list of Ireland's unlawful traps. Also not included here are traps that are unlawful to use except under licence. If in doubt about a trap, contact ICABS or the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Nooski trap
Electronic mouse and rat killers
Mousemaster trap
Leghold traps
Unstopped snares
Unstopped snares. Animals caught in any kind of snare will frantically
struggle to regain their freedom and suffer bruises and cuts to their
bodies. They will subsequently be shot or, as one heartless farmer
admitted, battered with a baseball bat. Due to the dreadful pain and
distress caused, all snares should be banned but it is only those
without a stop device (to prevent the noose from closing completely)
that are currently illegal.
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