Ban these ‘cruel’ glue traps says ex-West MP
FORMER Westcountry MP Janet Fookes, now a member of the House of Lords, has warned a minister she will be “after him” if “satisfactory” progress is not made on a Bill banning the use of glue traps to catch rats and mice.
Conservative peer Baroness Fookes, (pictured, right), the MP for the former seat of Plymouth Drake until 1997, also told the House of Lords that banning the use of glue traps to catch rodents would end a “great deal” of suffering.
The House of Lords gave the Glue Traps (Offences) Bill an unopposed second reading, and it has already cleared the House of Commons.
The Bill would make it an offence to set a glue trap for the purpose of catching a rodent, as well as a handful of other connected offences.
Anyone found guilty would be liable for either a fine or imprisonment.
Lady Fookes told the upper chamber she was “extremely proud” to be sponsoring the Bill since “it will end a great deal of animal suffering”.
The peer, who serves as a deputy speaker in the Lords, insisted glue traps were “torture”.
She explained: “Glue traps, which are widely available and cheaply sold online and in various stores and shops, are small boards covered with a non-drying glue. They usually sit down on the floor or on some horizontal surface.
“Any animal which gets onto it is then immediately trapped by its feet or paws. And this can lead to horrific injuries and suffering.
“In a panic, the animal will probably try to tear itself away, maybe tearing the skin. It will certainly suffer from exhaustion and from hunger if it is not immediately found. So, it could have a slow, lingering death.
“Now, in my language that is torture and no animal, whether it is regarded as a pest or not, should have to suffer such an inhumane way of dying.”
As she later closed the debate, Lady Fookes pressed ministers to swiftly enact the Bill once it became law.
She said: “I hope very much that this will go through unamended because of the dangers that the Bill will be lost altogether, but let me say that I shall be following very closely the speed with which the department acts in dealing with these matters and the care that they have in drawing up the conditions attached to licences.
“May I just forewarn my noble friend the minister that I shall be after him if there doesn’t seem to be satisfactory progress.”
Conservative peer Lord Randall of Uxbridge stressed that even though it was not the primary reason for the legislation, glue traps could “pose a danger to human health” because “the animals are being in a position where they defecate and urinate once they are caught and that is a considerable danger”.
Environment minister Lord Benyon said the Government supported the Bill, but added that even when a ban came into force, pest controllers could still be granted a licence to use glue traps in specific circumstances, such as “the possibility of a mouse being spotted in the cockpit of a commercial aircraft”.
The minister said: “In this case the mouse must be caught quickly as there is a real risk to public safety if wiring was damaged.” He added: “The wording in the Bill is clear that licences may only be granted for the purpose of preserving public health or public safety and when there is no other solution that is satisfactory.”
Lord Benyon contested claims that banning glue traps would lead to “problems with rodent infestation”, adding that the “experience of other countries” that have already enacted a ban, such as Ireland and New Zealand, did not support this. He also promised the Government would work to raise awareness “in the two years before the offences come into force” to educate businesses and the public about the ban.