Shops show customers how to illegally use glue traps

Undercover investigators told to 'roll up and drown' animals

- JANE DALTON

Shops across England selling cruel glue traps are telling customers how to illegally use them, an undercover investigation.

Pet cats, hedgehogs and wild birds have all been accidentally caught on the devices, and heartbreaking photos of the animals that suffered struggling to free themselves have prompted widespread outrage.

In 2020, Miles, a black and white cat, had to be put down after becoming stuck to four glue traps that left him in pain with “horrific” injuries. In 2021, a baby fox became stuck on a glue trap in Edinburgh, leaving its skin and fur badly damaged, and rescuers spent hours removing the glue to save the animal.

Glue traps are designed to catch - but not kill - rats and mice. They struggle for hours or days on the ultra-strong adhesive, and some tear or bite off limbs trying to escape. The rodents often suffocate from glue clogging up their mouth or nose, or die from dehydration, starvation or exhaustion.

Just over a year ago, using a glue trap without a licence was banned, and offenders could be fined or jailed - but selling the traps remains legal. Hundreds of thousands are sold every year in the UK, parliament was told during a debate before the ban.

Last year, the RSPCA received 40 reports of animals stuck on glue traps, and over the previous five years, it logged more than 200 reports. The animals stuck included wild birds, hedgehogs and pet cats.