PETA Statement re Glue Trap Ban
For Immediate Release:
December 18, 2025
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Please see the following statement from PETA President Tracy Reiman regarding the New York City Council’s introduction of a citywide glue trap ban:
It’s great to see city officials recognizing that killing and villainizing rats is pointless and cruel. Small animals can suffer for days, as they starve, suffocate, or bleed to death after being caught in glue traps, which fail to address the source of the problem: New York City’s overflowing garbage. Ever since the city began focusing on trash containment, rat sightings have steadily decreased, showing that compassionate, common-sense solutions are the answer.
Rats are empathic, family-oriented individuals who will put themselves in harm’s way to save someone else. Rats, mice, and other small animals—including birds, lizards, and squirrels—who get stuck in the adhesive that covers glue traps struggle desperately to escape, sometimes chewing off their own limbs before succumbing to starvation, dehydration, asphyxiation, or blood loss.
PETA notes that three U.S. cities have banned glue traps, and the devices are banned in several countries, including England, Iceland, and New Zealand. Additionally, hundreds of companies—including CVS, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Target, and Walgreens—have banned them after hearing from PETA.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
