Glue traps called '19th-century solution' as lawmakers push for NH to become first state to ban them

Yahoo

28-02-2025

The bill, which would prohibit the sale and use of glue traps, is backed by five Democratic and two Republican sponsors. (Photo by)
A proposal would make New Hampshire the first state in the nation to ban adhesive-based rodent traps.
Proponents of House Bill 152 say the traps result in slow, immensely painful deaths caused by starving or dehydration, not just for rodents, but also for other creatures they unintentionally catch. Meanwhile, opponents say the ban would be difficult to enforce, and that the traps, when used appropriately, are important tools in preventing rodents from spreading disease.
The bill, which would prohibit the sale and use of the traps, is backed by five Democratic and two Republican sponsors. A similar measure was raised last year and referred to interim study, where a committee voted in the fall, 8-5, not to recommend it for future legislation.
Rep. Linda Haskins, an Exeter Democrat, told fellow lawmakers on the House Environment and Agriculture Committee in a hearing this month that the traps represent 'a 19th-century solution when 21st-century mitigations are available.' She said supporters of the bill believe it's 'inaccurate' that there are not viable alternatives.
'Today, we have evidence that rodents and other animals caught in glue traps face a slow, painful, and extremely drawn-out death until they die of starvation,' Haskins said. 'In a panic to escape, they often rip off patches of skin fur and even chew off body parts in a vain attempt to free themselves.'
She pointed to major retailers — such as Target, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Rite Aid, and Walgreens — that have stopped carrying the traps, and countries — including Ireland, England, Scotland, Iceland, and New Zealand — that have outlawed them.
Haskins said the bill would not affect insect control. Several supporters of the bill — including concerned residents and a representative from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — testified in Concord in favor of the ban, with 295 people logging their support online, compared to 10 in opposition.
But the proposal faced blowback from those within the pest-control industry, the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation, and from the head of the state's Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food.
The agency's commissioner, Shawn Jasper, said the traps have been the only effective method in getting squirrels out of his home.
'I have tried virtually every method that has been talked about; they don't work on squirrels,' Jasper said. 'The biggest problem that we have in many of our buildings — my house, with four big, three big maples now — is squirrels. Generally, they spring the (other) traps without getting caught.'
He said he would support a ban on using the traps outside — which is an off-label use — and argued that glue traps aren't the only traps that can lead to slow, painful deaths if not checked regularly.
Jasper also said the bill would add language under the statute related to the department's authority on pesticide control — but 'this is not a pesticide,' he said. 'If you do nothing else, you need to take this out of (section) 430,' he said in reference to the statute.
Tyler Hawkins, a board member of the New England Pest Management Association, said glue traps are important tools used in food facilities, grocery stores, and other places to prevent rodents from spreading disease. Rodents are often root causes in salmonella poisoning and vegetable recalls, he said.
Hawkins argued a ban in New Hampshire would 'do us no good,' as the traps could still be purchased in neighboring states.
Hawkins and others pointed, instead, to a need to educate people on how to use the traps properly, such as checking them regularly and not placing them outside. He also said there's a way to remove animals that have been unintentionally caught by the traps 'quite easily and effectively,' using vegetable oil, for example, to release the glue.
Rob Johnson, the policy director for the New Hampshire Farm Bureau Federation, said the agriculture group opposed the legislation.
He said those who use the traps have expressed that they are effective, economical, a better alternative to poison, and that other options don't work as well. Asked by a lawmaker whether he believed the bill would be detrimental to the agriculture community in the state, he said: 'We do.'
Rep. Will Darby, a Nashua Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors, said that with an old home, he goes through more snap traps on a yearly basis than he'd like to admit. But he supports the measure because of his concerns about the impacts the traps have on non-target species, and a belief that the glue traps are inhumane.
Better solutions exist, he said. Some proponents of banning glue traps said the focus should be on eliminating the route through which rodents are entering a building in the first place, and then capturing rodents within the building and releasing them elsewhere. Haskins provided a long list of alternatives, including innovations like fertility control and ultrasonic devices that sound off alarms that humans can't hear but that drive animals from buildings.
'I think that one of the reasons people buy these, opposed to snap traps, is because they believe that they're easier to use than snap traps are,' Darby said. 'But I think that's deceptive. If you just do a little bit of research, you'll find that, as it's been testified, people don't know what to do with the mice.'
Those that use glue traps may find themselves with a live mouse and not know what to do, he said, leading to them getting bitten — possibly furthering the spread of disease — or having to 'smash' the mouse.
'I got no problem smashing a mouse, but most people that are trying to catch these … that's not really their forte,' Darby said. 'So they just walk away and leave them, you know, to ultimately, to starve and die due to lack of water.'