Glue Traps (Offences) Bill

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 25th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I rise with pleasure to support the Bill introduced by the noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, and to commend her on her clear and thoughtful introduction. As she said, the practical reality of animal population dynamics is that if you kill or remove animals in a situation where there is a food source and access, populations will breed very quickly to replace them, and the only real long-term solution is to make the structure in question rodent-proof, and that should be the ultimate long-term solution.

I shall be quite restrained in pointing out that we are not hearing the phrase “world-leading” here because, as other noble Lords have said, New Zealand, Ireland and various Australian states and territories have already brought in such a ban on glue traps. I note the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Bourne, about the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlighting the health dangers of these traps as they are a way to spread disease.

Several noble Lords have commented on how broadly available these things are. Prices start from 99p, and they are undoubtedly being bought and put in utterly inappropriate places by people who really do not understand what they are doing, so I agree with noble Lords who have said that two years is far too long for this legislation to come into effect. I cannot see why six months would not be a perfectly reasonable timeframe.

It has been said before, but we have to think about what, according to the British Veterinary Association, we are talking about: animals suffering torn skin, broken limbs, hair removal and a slow and painful death from suffocation, starvation, exhaustion and even self-mutilation. It is horrific that this has been allowed to go on for so long, but we are at least taking a step forward here.

Like the noble Lord, Lord Bourne, I am also concerned that this legislation talks just about setting the traps. As far as I can see, it does not say anything about selling them, so it does not appear to ban that. I am interested in the noble Lord’s interpretation that selling would be aiding and abetting. I wonder how much prosecution of small sellers through online marketplaces we might be likely to see, and to what extent that might be regarded as a police priority in these circumstances. I would like to see this Bill ban sale as well as placement.

Like others, I have concerns about Clause 2 and the potential loophole it creates of registered use. Humane Society International has noted the unregulated nature of the pest control industry and the concern that a large loophole might be created. However, I take the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, that we have what we have now, and we take this or nothing. That is certainly the basis on which I will be operating: taking what we have now but seeking to improve and strengthen it. Given that the Government are apparently likely to back the Bill, what plans do they have to review and re-examine it two or three years after it comes into effect, to see whether it needs strengthening, improving or changing?