Contrary to Company's Claims, Customers' Evidence Shows That 'Kill & Contain' Trap Causes Agonizing, Lingering Death

For Immediate Release:
June 21, 2010

Contact:
Jeffrey S. Kerr, Esq. 757-622-7382

Marysville, Ohio -- Today, Jeff Kerr, general counsel fired off a letter to James Hagedorn, chair and CEO of the Marysville-based lawn-care products maker Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, calling on him to immediately stop producing and distributing the company's Ortho Home Defense MAX Kill & Contain Mouse Trap and to pull all the traps from store shelves. Because Scotts advertises that the trap's spring-loaded floor causes a quick death with "no mess" and "no drama"--while mounting customer complaints show that mice actually die slowly and painfully in the trap--PETA reminds Hagedorn that the company is likely in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices."

"Many customers buy this mousetrap based on Scotts' misleading claims, but they soon learn that mice who are caught in this trap die slowly from stress-induced struggling, dehydration, heat prostration, or starvation," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "Making false claims in order to gain a competitive advantage is illegal. The best course for Scotts to avoid further scrutiny would be to take this inherently cruel mousetrap off store shelves now."

Consumer complaints indicate that mice caught in Scotts Kill & Contain trap suffer a lingering, agonizing, and sometimes bloody death. Several customer reviews of the product on Scotts' Web site and various consumer Web sites describe trapped mice who were writhing and squeaking in the trap, struggling to break free. More than three months after Scotts announced that an improved design of the trap was available, one consumer reviewer was horrified to find blood all over his countertop and a mouse who was "three-quarters of the way out of the bait side of the trap." Even Barry Sanders, executive vice president of Scotts, contradicted the company in an interview that was published in Columbus Business First on February 20, 2009. In the article, Sanders describes the Kill & Contain trap as an enclosed trap that flips the mouse and induces hypothermia.

PETA has given Hagedorn until July 2 to respond, after which time the group is prepared to pursue the matter further.

For more information about PETA's work to protect animals, please visit PETA.org.