Lauren Martin lives in Amherst. She has a master’s in Animal and Public Policy from Tufts University.

Commercially available adhesive-based rodent traps are known for causing slow, painful deaths not only for rodents but for any animal that gets caught in them. Luckily, there is a bill in the New Hampshire House of Representatives looking to ban adhesive traps: HB 152, “An Act Prohibiting the Sale and Use of Adhesive-based Rodent Traps.”

HB 152 would ban the use of adhesive-based rodent traps and prohibit the importing of these traps into New Hampshire. Anyone found to be selling, distributing or using adhesive traps would be fined for each violation, a fine that would not exceed $500. This bill, if passed, would not take effect until Jan. 1, 2026.

Adhesive-based traps, also known as glue traps, use a sticky surface to trap rodents for extermination. When glue traps are not checked frequently, animals stuck to their surfaces suffer for days. The animals may be stuck in any number of positions that restrict their movement; some may even chew off their appendages while trying to break free. If not removed from the glue trap or exterminated, the animals die horrible deaths from starvation and dehydration.

While these traps are intended to catch rodents like mice and rats, they do not discriminate. Oftentimes wild animals, like birds and bats, can become entangled in them. Trapping a protected species is an especially concerning outcome. When a trapped animal struggles, they become even more entangled in the glue, causing even further injuries, including wing damage and feather loss. If these traps are used in your home, your pets may also accidentally get stuck. If you do come across a glue trap with a bird or other animal entangled in it, try to use cooking oil to release the animal.

Glue traps also pose a risk to the humans who use them. Animals enter a state of panic when they’re trapped, and they may urinate and defecate out of fear. Many of these animals can carry zoonotic diseases, diseases that can be transmitted from animals to people, which you could contract when coming in contact with their excrement. For this very reason, the CDC warns against the use of glue traps.

Other countries have implemented bans on adhesive-based traps in the last few years. In 2022, the United Kingdom banned the use of glue traps for anyone who does not have a government-granted license. Ireland, New Zealand, Iceland, a few Australian states, most of India, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands have all banned glue traps because of their cruel nature. Companies including JP Morgan, American Eagle Outfitters and even the New York City Police Department have made pledges to not use these cruel traps to deal with rodents.

Even Congress had a bill that would ban the sale, distribution and use of glue traps nationwide. The bill, HR 7018, is known as the Glue Trap Prohibition Act of 2024. The bill was put forward by Rep. Ted Lieu of California, sent to the House Committee on Agriculture and then referred to its subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology in August, 2024. It is uncertain whether this bill will proceed.

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While I personally do not agree with exterminating animals, there are alternatives to glue traps that are much more humane. There are smaller versions of live traps like Havahart traps made for rodents. There are traps that immediately exterminate the animal so that there is no long-term suffering. Both of these options should be carried out by a professional exterminator who knows the risks and follows the proper safety precautions when handling rodents.

One method that should be avoided at all costs is second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, which cause the rodents to hemorrhage and can secondarily poison other wildlife, like owls, eagles and hawks, that consume the poisoned rodents.

HB 152 is currently being reviewed by the House Environment and Agriculture Committee. The committee will have a public hearing on this bill on Feb. 19 at 2:30 pm. As always, you can submit testimony on the New Hampshire GenCourt website to register your opinion on this issue. I highly encourage the committee to vote ‘Ought to Pass’ on this bill and stop the cruel practice of letting rodents die slow, painful deaths while also causing harm to the unintended animals caught in glue traps.