Yahoo News Horror as young girl finds mice 'covered in glue' and wriggling in sick trap left in the street
Two severely injured young mice had to be put to sleep after a young girl found them trapped and struggling to survive in a glue trap left out on a residential street. The RSPCA has revealed graphic details of the incident - and praised her care and compassion in trying to save them.
Glue traps - also known as glue boards or sticky boards - are sheets of plastic, cardboard or wood coated with non-drying adhesives designed to trap rodents like mice and rats as they walk across.
The Glue Traps (Offences) Act was passed in 2022 and was expected to come into force in England this month, but has been delayed until July, the RSPCA said. The charity, however, is now urging people to stop using the devices immediately.
The girl found the trap on Dijon Street in Bolton earlier this month. The mice were 'covered in glue and struggling to free themselves', added the RSPCA.
But the girl took them home and managed to release them from the board before she put them in a box and called the charity for help.
Inspector Rachel Whalley took them to the RSPCA's Greater Manchester Animal Hospital, where they were examined by a vet.
Both were sadly put to sleep to prevent their further suffering. The RSPCA called the injuries they suffered 'terrible' and the glue trap 'inhumane'.
Inspector Whalley said: "We're really grateful to the young girl who showed such care and compassion by stopping to help these mice. It must have been a very upsetting experience for her to see distressed animals in this situation, but she took action and helped to minimise their suffering.
"When I arrived, one of the mice wasn’t able to stand and was struggling to get up, it was a really awful sight. Glue traps are really horrible devices and to think this had just been left out on a residential street is appalling. Sadly they are currently still legal to use, although thankfully this will soon change. They’re intended for rodents but in reality they can impact any animal who is unfortunate enough to encounter them.
"They are extremely difficult to remove - as seen by the amount of fur that was left behind on this particular device - and can cause a great deal of suffering and distress. In their increasing panic and desperation to escape, rats and mice have been found to tear patches of their fur out, break bones, and even gnaw their own limbs off as they struggle to get free.
"We would urge people to show kindness and respect towards all animals and not to use them. No animal deserves to suffer like this, especially when there are kinder and more humane ways of deterring rodents instead."
The RSPCA said they're some exemptions to the ban under licence, with pest controllers still able to use glue traps.
The House of Lords gave the Glue Traps (Offences) Bill an unopposed second reading in March 2020 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 will be liable for either a fine or imprisonment.
