Support for the Glue Trap Bill
SUMMARY
The Animal Law Committee issued a report supporting a bill that would ban the use of adhesive-based rodent traps (“glue traps”) in New York. These traps are considered inhumane, causing extreme physical suffering and prolonged death through starvation, dehydration, and injury. Beyond rodents, these traps indiscriminately capture non-target animals, including pets and protected wildlife such as birds and small mammals. The Committee emphasizes that glue traps violate New York’s animal cruelty laws and contradict growing public and legislative recognition of animal sentience and humane treatment. In addition to ethical concerns, glue traps pose significant public health risks. The traps are also ineffective in managing rodent populations, as they do not address root causes such as access to food and shelter. Many institutions and jurisdictions across the U.S. and internationally have already banned or restricted glue traps, signaling a broader shift toward humane pest control methods.
*Originally posted June 2025. Reissued March 2026
BILL INFORMATION
A.10189 (AM Kay) / S.3046-B (Sen. Brisport) – Prohibits the use of adhesive-based rodent traps in state-owned or state-leased buildings (NYS 2025-26).
REPORT
REPORT ON LEGISLATION BY THE ANIMAL LAW COMMITTEE
A.10189 (AM Kay)
S.3046-B (Sen. Brisport)
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting the production, sale and use of adhesive-based animal traps.
THIS BILL IS APPROVED
I. SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED LAW
The New York City Bar Association, through its Animal Law Committee, supports the passage of Assembly Bill A.10189[1] and Senate Bill S.3046-B[2] (the “Bill”), which would amend the public buildings law to prohibiting the use of adhesive-based rodent traps (“glue traps”). This Bill would prevent the use of this cruel and ineffective method to capture or destroy animals. In the amended law an “adhesive-based rodent trap” is “any device that is designed or is capable of being used to capture a rodent by means of an adhesive substance, including devices commonly known as glue traps, glue boards, and any similar rodent trap.” .[3]
II. ARGUMENT SUMMARY
The Animal Law Committee supports the Bill because it would (a) end the use of a cruel and inhumane animal trap; (b) reflect the preference of consumers for ethical, safe, and effective rodent control; (c) follow the national and international trend toward abolishing glue traps; (d) keep humans healthy from certain diseases; and (e) protect wildlife (including species which are legally protected at the State and Federal levels) by preventing the suffering and death of animals that are, but are not intended to be, caught in glue traps. An expansion of our reasons is set forth below.
III. BACKGROUND
In New York, adhesive-based rodent traps, also known as “glue traps,” are frequently used as a method of rodent control. However, glue traps are among the cruelest methods of trapping[4] and may be responsible for more suffering than all of the wildlife control products on the market.[5] Animals that are caught in these traps endure a slow and painful death through starvation, dehydration, and exhaustion over several days, rather than instantaneous death.[6] Stuck in the glue, the animals instinctively panic and their fur, skin, feathers, faces and other body parts are often torn away from their bodies.[7] The more they struggle, the more they become stuck to the glue. The toxic glue burns the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes of the animals. Their eyes and mouths may be glued shut. Some rodents break their bones or chew off their limbs attempting to escape a trap. They suffer mentally with anxiety, fear, pain, hunger and thirst.[8] In addition to being inhumane, these traps are far less effective than other means of capture. The traps fail to effectively control rodent populations for several reasons such as (a) rodents can detect sticky surfaces and evade the traps,[9] (b) any dust or dirt particles that encounter the trap can render the trap ineffective,[10] and (c) although glue traps may catch and kill individual rodents, their populations are often unimpacted since new animals will inevitably resurface in the same area.[11] Furthermore, glue traps are indiscriminate and frequently trap non-target species such as house pets, birds and other protected species. Some of these species are protected by law, e.g., wild birds (illegal to trap in New York City),[12] the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) protects wildlife species in New York,[13] and Federal law protects many forms of wildlife as well (e.g., the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918). Permanent solutions are necessary and must stem from the cause and source of the problem, i.e., ensuring that the area is kept in a manner that is unattractive and inaccessible to animals.
IV. JUSTIFICATION
A. Public Health Risk
Adhesive-based traps pose significant hazards to public health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the “CDC”) warns that such traps can cause serious health complications to humans.[14] Rodents are carriers of disease-causing agents that can be directly transmitted to humans.[15] Animals stuck in the glue are alive and afraid and continue to produce urine and feces through which bacterium, viruses and other microorganisms can cross contaminate with persons who handle the traps. Such exposure can result in illnesses such as hantavirus, salmonella, and leptospirosis.[16] The rodents may also carry ticks, mice and fleas and indirectly spread diseases to humans. It is difficult for untrained individuals to release an animal from a glue board without inflicting further injuries on the animal, or without injuring themselves.[17] Consider who may handle the disposal of these traps, e.g., those in the food service industry and others who interact with the public. Specifically, humans are at risk of being bitten and contracting diseases.[18] While glue traps are not yet banned in New York, both John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia Airports as well as many financial and medical institutions and other businesses have banned glue traps over concerns that they are vectors for pathogens and diseases.[19]
B. Harm to Non-Target Animals
Adhesive-based traps are indiscriminate in their trappings and are not designed to only trap rodents. Other animals including beloved house pets suffer immensely when they are caught in these horrific traps.[20] Larger animals are more fortunate and will survive with injuries to their skin.[21] Medium and smaller animals such as cats, when caught in these traps, usually require vet care and often surgery to survive and still may succumb to their injuries.[22] Glue traps are often placed outside to catch rodents and unintentionally kill or seriously injure wildlife including different species of birds such as sparrows and woodpeckers. It has also become increasingly common for people to attach the traps to trees to catch invasive lantern flies.[23] In doing so, the traps catch everything else that touches them, including birds, reptiles (e.g., snakes), and small mammals such as bats, flying squirrels and raccoons, essentially turning them into bycatch.[24]
C. Treat the Source
Adhesive-based traps are ineffective in the long term since they are only able to ensnare an individual whereas the rodent population exponentially increases in its growth.[25] Prevention strategies are necessary to resolve the underlying causes of the issue. The CDC reports that it is easier to control rodents before they establish themselves in your home or building and emphasizes removing food sources, water, and items that provide shelter for rodents.[26] Establishments such as those in the food service industry must use preventive measures to ward off rodents, including daily inspection of the inside and outside grounds of the establishment to ensure that they are clean, remove any standing water, keep tight fitting lids on food storage containers, observe rules of garbage disposal, etc.[27]
D. National and International Laws Abolishing Glue Traps
New York along with several other states and cities in the U.S. are considering laws prohibiting adhesive-based traps. In April 2023, West Hollywood City Council voted unanimously, becoming the first city in California to pass a ban on the sale and use of glue traps.[28] The Ojai City Council did the same in March 2024.[29] Cartersville, GA and Eugene, OR have stopped using glue traps. In January 2024, Congressman Ted W. Lieu introduced H.R. 7018 – Glue Trap Prohibition Act of 2024,[30] which would place a national ban on glue traps.[31] Glue traps are already banned in many public and private institutions and companies throughout the U.S. including 100 airports.[32]
Internationally, England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, the State of Victoria in Australia and 30 Indian states and union territories have laws banning or regulating glue traps.[33] The states and union territories in India ban both the use and sale of glue traps,[34] New Zealand bans both the use and sale of glue traps, and the State of Victoria in Australia regulates the use and sale.[35] England, Wales, and Scotland do not allow the use of glue traps by the public; however, they still allow glue traps to be sold to the public.[36]
E. The Law Seeks to Protect Animals from Cruelty, Inhumane Treatment and Conditions
Animal sentience research has established that animals are sentient and, accordingly, human treatment towards them matters, which has been acknowledged in some state and Federal laws that regulate and restrict human treatment of animals.[37] Sentience is generally understood to mean that they have feelings including the capacity to experience pain and suffering. Mice and rats[38] are highly intelligent and they experience pain and distress, as shown in scientific studies.[39]
In its chapter on animals, the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law (“AG&M”) sets forth particular definitions including: (1) an animal “includes all living creatures except for human beings,” (2) a companion animal or pet means “any dog or cat” and “any other domesticated animal normally maintained in or near the household…” and (3) the “torture” or “cruelty” of an animal “includes every act, omission, or neglect, whereby unjustifiable physical pain, suffering or death is caused or permitted.”[40] Specifically, the basic animal cruelty statute in New York – AG&M §353 (Overdriving, torturing and injuring animals; failure to provide proper sustenance) – protects “any animal, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink, or neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink….”[41] This law exempts certain practices which relate to the proper conduct of certain scientific tests, experiments or investigations involving the use of living animals, performed or conducted in laboratories or institutions. None of these exemptions exempt or sanction the extreme cruelty caused by glue traps. Accordingly, this kind of inhumane treatment of animals should clearly fall under the language of AG&M §353.
Further, these devices are not designed so as to only trap rodents, but also trap any living creature that comes into contact with them, e.g., companion animals or pets such as cats and dogs, as described hereinabove. If the animal trapped by the glue trap is a companion animal, such act could arguably be charged under New York’s aggravated cruelty law, AG&M §353-a (Aggravated cruelty to animals). This statute contains some exemptions but they are inapplicable to the use of adhesive-based traps.
In sum, New York’s animal cruelty laws were enacted to prevent cruel treatment to animals. Adhesive-based traps glue the animal’s body to the trap and slowly and agonizingly cause the animal to die without food and water, immobilized and in unending pain. To suggest that this is not a violation of a statute meant to protect all animals is to undermine the public policy memorialized in the state’s animal cruelty laws.
V. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, the New York City Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee supports the proposed legislation.
Animal Law Committee
Martha Golar and Sherry Ramsey, Co-Chairs
*Originally posted June 2025. Reissued March 2026
Footnotes
[1] A.10189; Assemb. Reg. Sess. 2025-2026; available at https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A10189 (All websites last visited on March 17, 2026).
[2] S.3046-B; 2025-2026 Legislative Session, available at https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2025/s3046.
[3] Id.
[4] S.E. Baker, M. Ayers, N.J. Beausoleil, S.R. Belmain, M. Berdoy, A.P. Buckle, C. Cagienard, D. Cowan, J. Fearn-Daglish, P. Goddard, H.D.R. Golledge, E. Mullineaux, T. Sharp, A. Simmons, & E. Schmolz, An assessment of animal welfare impacts in wild Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) management, Animal Welfare, 31: 51-68, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare/article/an-assessment-of-animal-welfare-impacts-in-wild-norway-rat-rattus-norvegicus-management/AEEE82AC49A55136E322A2900D8F6093.
[5] Glue boards, cheap, cruel and indiscriminate, The Humane Society of the United States, available at https://www.humaneworld.org/en/resources/glue-trap-faqs.
[6] Wild Animals and Glue Traps, RSPCA, UK, available at https://www.rspca.org.uk/documents/1494935/9042554/Wild+animals+and+glue+traps+A4+webversion.pdf/03b3f893-12d4-0ef7-3630-f9780be9e96a?t=1553171468473; See also the Scottish Animal Welfare Report which reported that since many glue traps are not supplied with “adequate instructions,” users cause the trapped animals prolonged suffering where it can take days for them to die, available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-animal-welfare-commission-report-use-rodent-glue-traps-scotland/pages/6/.
[7] Barbara Russo-Lennon, A worse mouse trap? Here’s why three NYC lawmakers want to ban glue traps in the empire state (March 22, 2024), amNY, available at https://www.amny.com/news/nyc-lawmakers-ban-glue-traps-mouse/.
[8] S. E. Baker, et al., An assessment of animal welfare impacts in wild Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) management, ANIMAL WELFARE 2022, 31(1):51-68, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/AEEE82AC49A55136E322A2900D8F6093/S0962728600009787a.pdf/an-assessment-of-animal-welfare-impacts-in-wild-norway-rat-rattus-norvegicus-management.pdf.
[9] Corrigan, Robert M., “The Efficacy of Glue Traps against Wild Populations of House Mice, Mus domesticus, Rutty” (1998). Proceedings of the Eighteenth Vertebrate Pest Conference (1998). 25. Available at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/vpc18/25.
[10] Id.
[11] Kitty Block, England’s action to ban glue traps is a stirring victory for animal protection (May 20, 2022), The Humane Society of the United States, available at https://www.humaneworld.org/en/blog/englands-action-ban-glue-traps-stirring-victory-animal-protection.
[12] NYC Admin. Code §17-200.
[13] NY Env. Conserv. L. 11-1101 (2024). Nearly all species of wildlife are protected in New York, including endangered species, hawks, owls and songbirds. See also New York State, Dept. of Environmental Conservation, available at https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/hunting/small-game#:~:text=Protected%20Wildlife,bow%2C%20crossbow%2C%20or%20firearm.
[14] CDC, How To Trap Up To Remove Rodents, available at https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-pets/rodent-control/trap-up.html.
[15] CDC, Controlling Wild Rodent Infestations, available at https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-pets/rodent-control/index.html.
[16] Sarah Maslin Nir, Are Glue Traps Too Cruel to Use in the Fight Against Mice and Rats? (March 28, 2024), The New York Times available at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/nyregion/glue-trap-rodents-nyc.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb; see also These Places Have Banned Vile Glue Traps – Help Peta Persuade Others to Join the List, PETA, available at https://www.peta.org/features/join-campaign-glue-traps/.
[17] Supra, note 5. Glue boards, cheap, cruel and indiscriminate, The Humane Society of the United States, available at https://www.humaneworld.org/en/resources/glue-trap-faqs.
[18] Id.
[19] Id.
[20] Supra, note 1, Justification, available at https://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=%0D%0A&leg_video=&bn=A10189&term=2025&Memo=Y&Text=Y.
[21] Supra, note 5.
[22] Id.
[23] Alice Sun, Meant to Catch Spotted Lanternflies, Glue Traps Are a Horrifying Hazards For Birds (March 29, 2023), Audubon Magazine, available at https://www.audubon.org/news/meant-catch-spotted-lanternflies-glue-traps-are-horrifying-hazard-birds#:~:text=The%20strips%20of%20tape%20were,birds,%20and%20other%20unintended%20victims.
[24] Id.
[25] Wild rats may have 3-4 litters a year of about 7-8 pups each time. They also live in groups and can have colonies of several hundred individuals. K. Modlinska, W. Pisula, The Natural History of Modern Organisms: The Norway rat, from an obnoxious pest to a laboratory pet. Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland, Elife, (2020), available at https://elifesciences.org/articles/50651.
[26] CDC, supra note 13, Controlling Wild Rodent Infestations, available at https://www.cdc.gov/healthy-pets/rodent-control/index.html. See also New York, NY, New York City Health Code §151, available at https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/about/healthcode/health-code-article151.pdf.
[27] NYC Health, Best Practices for Pest Proofing Food Service Establishments, available at https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/rii/keep-pests-out-of-food-establishments.pdf.
[28] Eric Resendiz, West Hollywood becomes 1st City in country to ban rodent glue traps, abc7, Eyewitness News, (April 19, 2023), available at https://ouramerica.abc7.com/rodent-ban-glue-traps-west-hollywood/13154617/.
[29] Will Conybeare, Ojai bans use, sale of glue traps within city limits (March 3, 2024), available at https://ktla.com/news/local-news/ojai-bans-use-sale-of-glue-traps-within-city-limits/.
[30] Glue Trap Prohibition Act of 2024, H.R. 7018, 118th Congress, 2d Session, available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7018/text.
[31] Press Release, Rep Lieu Introduces Bill to Ban Use of Glue Traps (January 17, 2024), TED LIEU CONGRESSMAN for CALIFORNIA’S 36TH DISTRICT, available at https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-lieu-introduces-bill-ban-use-glue-traps.
[32] For a list of places that have banned glue traps, see Animals Are Not Ours, PETA (August 2024), available at https://www.peta.org/features/join-campaign-glue-traps/.
[33] Glue Traps, Humane Society International / United Kingdom, available at https://www.humaneworld.org/en/campaign/glue-traps#:~:text=Where%20is%20it%20illegal%20to,and%20use%20of%20glue%20traps.
[34] Erika Goyal, Assam Joins 30 Other States and UTs in Banning Cruel Glue Traps for Rodent Control in Response to PETA India Appeal (Jan 5, 2024), PETA INDIA, available at https://www.petaindia.com/blog/assam-joins-30-other-states-and-uts-in-banning-cruel-glue-traps-for-rodent-control-in-response-to-peta-india-appeal/.
[35] Glue Traps, supra note 29. Humane Society International / United Kingdom, available at https://www.humaneworld.org/en/campaign/glue-traps#:~:text=Where%20is%20it%20illegal%20to,and%20use%20of%20glue%20traps.
[36] England bans public use of inhumane rodent glue traps but animal charity warns consumers against accidental law breaking, as traps still available for purchase in shops (July 31, 2024), Humane Society International, available at https://www.humaneworld.org/en/news/england-bans-public-use-inhumane-rodent-glue-traps-animal-charity-warns-consumers-against.
[37] Jane Kotzmann & Morgan Stonebridge, There Is Value in Stating the Obvious: Why United States Legislatures Should Explicitly Recognize Animal Sentience in Their Laws, 30 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Policy 425 (2021), available at https://community.lawschool.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Kotzmann-Stonebridge-final.pdf. As of March 2025, Assembly Bill A.0107 was introduced which would recognize animals as sentient beings and establish them as victims of animal cruelty crimes.
In addition, some foreign jurisdictions expressly recognize animal sentience: See, e.g., Animals Act 2011 (Neth.) art. 1.3; Code civil [Civil Code] (Fr.) art. 515–14; Animal Welfare Act 2008 (Tanz.) Part. I § 4(b)(i); Bill 54, An Act to Improve the Legal Situation of Animals, 1st Sess, 41st Leg, Quebec, 2015 (assented to Dec. 4, 2015); Civil Code 2016 (Colom.) art 655; Animal Welfare Act 1999 (NZ); Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 2012 O.J. (C 326/01, art. 13. Id. at 428.
[38] The definition of “animal” under the Federal Animal Welfare Act specifically excludes “rats of the genus Rattus, and mice of the genus Mus, bred for use in research”. 7 U.S.C. 54, §2132(g).
[39] Recognizing Pain and Distress in Animals, Boston University Office of Research, available at https://www.bu.edu/research/ethics-compliance/animal-subjects/animal-care/recognizing-pain-and-distress-in-animals-2/#:~:text=Pain%20in%20rodents%20usually%20results,group%20behavior%20may%20be%20apparent.
[40] New York, NY, Agriculture and Markets Law (AG&M) Chapter 69, Article 26 §350 (2014), available at https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/AGM/350.
[41] AG&M §353(1): “A person who overdrives, overloads, tortures or cruelly beats or unjustifiably injures, maims, mutilates or kills any animal, whether wild or tame, and whether belonging to himself or to another, or deprives any animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink, or neglects or refuses to furnish it such sustenance or drink, or causes, procures or permits any animal to be overdriven, overloaded, tortured, cruelly beaten, or unjustifiably injured, maimed, mutilated or killed, or to be deprived of necessary food or drink, or who willfully sets on foot, instigates, engages in, or in any way furthers any act of cruelty to any animal, or any act tending to produce such cruelty, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor and for purposes of paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section 160.10 of the criminal procedure law, shall be treated as a misdemeanor defined in the penal law.” [Emphasis added]
New York’s aggravated cruelty to animal statute is AG&M 353-a: Aggravated cruelty to animals. 1 . A person is guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals when, with no justifiable purpose, he or she intentionally kills or intentionally causes serious physical injury to a companion animal with aggravated cruelty. For purposes of this section, “aggravated cruelty” shall mean conduct which: (i) is intended to cause extreme physical pain; or (ii) is done or carried out in an especially depraved or sadistic manner.