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House committee hears competing views on banning adhesive rodent traps; industry cites food‑safety and IPM concerns
Summary
Representative Linda Haskins's HB 152 would ban adhesive ("glue") rodent traps. Animal advocates urged the ban; pest‑management businesses and the agriculture commissioner warned the measure could undermine integrated pest management and food‑safety programs unless narrowly targeted or amended.
Representative Linda Haskins introduced HB 152, a proposal to prohibit sale and use of adhesive‑based rodent traps in New Hampshire. Testimony at the hearing split sharply between animal‑welfare advocates and pest‑control professionals.
Supporters described graphic animal welfare harms when non‑target wildlife or domestic animals become trapped and then suffer prolonged deaths. Several rescue staff, humane officers and representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society testified that glue traps commonly cause prolonged distress, self‑mutilation and deaths by starvation, dehydration, or trauma. Witnesses asked the committee to adopt the ban and noted many retailers and airports in other jurisdictions have stopped using glue traps.
Opponents from the pest‑management industry and from the New Hampshire Farm Bureau argued glue boards remain a necessary tool for some commercial situations, particularly for food‑handling facilities, warehouses and other sites where safe non‑chemical monitoring and capture is required by federal and state food‑safety rules. Industry witnesses said glue boards are one element of an integrated pest management (IPM) program used to identify pest species and to monitor infestation levels. They urged the committee to avoid a broad ban that would also remove an important non‑poison option for commercial operators and public health protection.
Agriculture Commissioner Sean Jasper told the committee he opposed the bill as drafted and urged lawmakers to remove pesticide‑board enforcement language that would improperly place glue boards under the state's pesticide statute; he also recommended clarifying enforcement authority and distinguishing on‑label indoor use from off‑label outdoor placement that can catch wildlife. The committee heard hundreds of public submissions: an online count showed roughly 281 supporters and 10 opponents; the in‑room testimony reflected strong concern on both sides.
Committee members asked for clarifying amendments and discussed targeted approaches (for example, limiting sale or use to enclosed stations, excluding insect glue strips and specifying enforcement and labeling). The committee closed the hearing on HB 152 and will consider amendments at a future work session.
