University at Albany-SUNY Receives PETA Award for Banning Cruel Glue Traps

School Ditches Crude Mouse Traps After Learning How Small Animals Suffer When Stuck on Adhesive

For Immediate Release:
February 8, 2010

Contact:
Tori Perry 757-622-7382

Albany, N.Y. -- For making the humane decision to stop using cruel glue traps, the University at Albany-SUNY will receive PETA's Compassion Award. The award honors individuals and entities for their efforts in making the world a kinder place for animals.

"It is wonderful to see such a large, thriving campus take into consideration the welfare of the smallest and most vulnerable animals," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "Thanks to the school's decision to stop using these exceedingly cruel devices, many mice, birds, and other small animals will be spared a terrifying, prolonged, and painful death."

Glue traps are pieces of plastic or cardboard coated with a strong adhesive. Trapped, panicked animals often suffer for days before dying of starvation or dehydration. As animals struggle to escape, patches of skin, fur, and feathers are ripped from their bodies. Some animals chew off their own limbs in an attempt to free themselves, and others get their noses, mouths, or beaks stuck in the glue and suffocate. Glue traps are also ineffective and fail to address the source of the problem--more mice simply move in to take the place of animals who have been killed.

Many companies, facilities, and municipalities--including JPMorgan Chase; American Eagle Outfitters; Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants; Google Inc.; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; the city of Eugene, Ore.; and both the Hotel Burnham and the Palmolive Building in Chicago--have stopped using glue traps. In addition, a number of retailers--including Dollar General, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Albertsons, Safeway, and Dollar Tree--refuse to sell glue traps. Currently, PETA is also asking home-improvement giant Lowe's to stop selling glue traps.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.