Ladakh Bans Cruel Glue Traps in Response to PETA India Appeal
For Immediate Release:
4 September 2023
Contact:
Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]
Farhat Ul Ain; [email protected]
Leh – Following an appeal from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, the Directorate of Animal/Sheep Husbandry & Fisheries Department, Ladakh, issued a circular instructing strict compliance with Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) advisories prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and use of glue traps glue traps to catch rodents and called for necessary action to be taken to enforce the ban within the union territory.
The copy of the circular sent to PETA India by the Directorate of Animal/Sheep Husbandry & Fisheries Department, Ladakh, is available upon request.
In its appeal, PETA India requested that the union territory take immediate steps to implement the AWBI’s directions. Similar circulars taking action on glue traps have been issued by the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal.
“PETA India applauds the Ladakh administration for taking steps to protect animals, no matter how small, and for preventing them from being sentenced to a hideously slow and painful death,” says PETA India Advocacy Officer Farhat Ul Ain. “Glue traps are ineffective in the long term since they don’t deal with the root of the problem. Simply put, more rats move in, as their breeding is prompted by a brief increase in the food supply. The result is a vicious killing cycle in which many animals suffer and die.”
The use of glue traps is a punishable offence under Section 11 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Usually made of plastic trays or sheets of cardboard covered with strong glue, glue traps are indiscriminate killers, often catching non-target animals, including birds, squirrels, reptiles, and frogs. This makes their use also a violation of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which prohibits the “hunting” of protected indigenous species. Mice, rats, and other animals caught in these traps can die of hunger, dehydration, or exposure after days of prolonged suffering. Others may suffocate when their noses and mouths become stuck in the glue, while some even chew through their legs in a desperate bid for freedom and die from blood loss. Those found alive may be thrown away along with the trap or face an even more traumatic death, such as bludgeoning or drowning.
PETA India notes that the best way to control rodent populations is to make the area unattractive or inaccessible to them: eliminate food sources by keeping surfaces and floors clean and storing food in chew-proof containers, sealing trash cans, and using ammonia-soaked cotton balls or rags to drive rodents away (they hate the smell). After giving them a few days to leave, seal entry points using foam sealant, steel wool, hardware cloth, or metal flashing. Rodents can also be removed using humane cage traps but must be released where they will find adequate food, water, and shelter to help them survive.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
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