UK wholesalers have been persuaded by an animal rights organisation to stop selling a pest control device.
Southampton-based MX Wholesale and one of the UK’s leading cash and carry wholesalers, which wished to remain anonymous, have agreed to stop selling glue rodent traps which are said to cause prolonged suffering to rats and mice.
In collaboration with the RSPCA, Humane Society International launched the Unstuck campaign to ban the public sale of the traps, said to be inhumane as the strong adhesive can clog the mouths and noses of mice and rats, causing them to slowly suffocate. The devices are under a public sale ban in Ireland and New Zealand.
Under the law, people who use traps have an obligation to kill any vermin “quickly and humanely” therefore those leaving rodents to die on the trap are at risk of committing an offence.
“To show our support for the ‘Unstuck’ campaign and put an end to the cruelty caused by rat and mouse glue traps, we have decided to withdraw these traps from our catalogue,” said MX Wholesale CEO and managing director Navid Rezaei.
“When we looked at the evidence showing that animals caught on glue traps could be subjected to extreme and extended suffering, and people who use glue traps are at risk of committing an offence under the Animal Welfare Act, we instantly made the decision to clear our shelves of all remaining stock.”
Humane Society International executive director Claire Bass added “These are hideous devices that can and do inflict severe animal suffering,”
“When we show that suffering to retailers, and the appalled reactions of potential shoppers, they’re removing them swiftly and we commend them for that. We’re off to a really encouraging start but we need more retailers to do the right thing and take these inhumane products off shop shelves.”
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