Glue trap is a slow killer and should be banned

ONE of the most inhumane animal traps ever devised has recently been flooding into the Irish market.

Available in discount stores and hardware shops all around the country, the rat and mouse glue trap aims not to kill its victims outright but to catch them in a sticky base where they will suffer a slow, lingering death.

Veterinary surgeons who have condemned the traps have detailed how "there is much suffering by the entrapped animals it is not a sudden or merciful death, but one brought on by starvation and thirst."

In a desperate bid to escape death, the doomed creatures frantically struggle to free themselves by pulling out their hair or even 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 up to five days dying from starvation and dehydration.

The cruelty associated with glue traps must surely mean they contravene the Protection of Animals Act.

Under this legislation it is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal.

I urge readers to avoid purchasing glue traps and appeal to the management of shops selling them to show compassion and immediately withdraw them from sale.

Philip Kiernan

Irish Council Against Blood Sports

PO Box 88

Mullingar

Co Westmeath