A study led by the University of Oxford has found that glue boards and anticoagulant poisoning are among the worst rodent management methods for their impact on rat welfare.

Experts in pest control, animal welfare and veterinary medicine explored the impact of different rodent control methods on rat welfare, to better aid decision-making.  

The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) said: 

“Rats are sentient animals (capable of negative and positive experiences) and yet both glue traps and anticoagulants can lead to extreme suffering. 

“The research comes at an important moment as the proposed Glue Traps (Offences) Bill may restrict the use of these devices in England if it passes into law. Similar restrictions are being considered in Scotland and Wales.

“Where possible, any suffering should be minimised in rat control, however, until now, very little information has been available on the relative animal welfare impacts of methods currently being used in the UK. 

“This has made it difficult to select the methods which cause the least impact on rat welfare”.

ABOUT THE STUDY

In the research, funded by the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF), Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) and the Elinor Patterson Baker Foundation, Dr Sandra Baker and a group of experts in wildlife management, rodent management, rodent biology, animal welfare science, and veterinary science and medicine assessed the relative welfare impacts of six different methods of rodent control.

The control methods were compared and evaluated using:

• A welfare assessment model
• Published data
• Expert knowledge

producing a relative welfare impact score for each. 

Methods included: 

• Lethal snap trapping
• Glue trapping (followed by concussive killing)
• Live (cage) trapping (followed by concussive killing)
• Two types of rodenticide poisoning (anticoagulant and cholecalciferol)
• Non-toxic cellulose baiting (which disrupts digestive systems, resulting in lethal dehydration).

THE MAIN OUTCOMES OF THE STUDY

Glue trapping and the three baiting methods (anticoagulant poisoning, cholecalciferol poisoning and non-toxic cellulose baiting) all produced high welfare impacts and should be considered as last resorts from a welfare perspective.

In comparison, cage trapping, followed by concussive killing, scored lower welfare impacts.

The impact of snap trapping was highly variable, depending on the traps used, but high-quality snap traps could help produce the lowest impact, and therefore, the best welfare outcome if used appropriately.

WHAT IMPACT MIGHT THE RESEARCH HAVE?

UFAW said it is hoped these findings will help pest management professionals and the general public better understand and consider the welfare of these animals when selecting control methods.

Dee Ward-Thompson, BPCA Head of Technical, said:

“This comprehensive research will undoubtedly add to the discussion on animal welfare and pest management happening at every level in the UK. 

“Pest professionals were well represented on the research group, with BPCA vice-presidents Dr Mike Ayres and Chris Cagienard sitting on the group, alongside BPCA consultant member Jane Fearn-Daglish.

“BPCA members only employ highly-skilled pest professionals who always assess humaneness as part of their work. However, this research will serve as a useful way to benchmark our toolkit regarding their impact on welfare.

“Our primary concern as a sector will always be effectively protecting our clients and public health. Therefore we always choose the most humane and effective control measure. 

“A diverse toolkit will always protect people best. Every pest management situation is different, so we must acknowledge that it’s not always possible or practicable to use only the tools that impact welfare the least”.

Dr Sandra Baker, the lead author of the paper and Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, said:

“Rat management may represent the greatest source of anthropogenic impact on wild animal welfare. 

“Our findings will help professional pest controllers and members of the public to reduce this impact, by better-incorporating consideration of animal welfare alongside other factors when choosing a rat control method”.

Dr Huw Golledge, chief executive and scientific director of Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW), said:

“This work is an important step in understanding the animal welfare impacts of various rat control methods. 

“Its strength lies in the level of agreement reached by the diverse range of experts involved. At UFAW, members of the public often ask us for advice about the most humane way to control rat infestations. 

“These results give us the information we need to provide advice on which methods are likely to have the least damaging effects on rat welfare. 

“On the back of this research, we have comprehensively updated our webpage resource, which offers advice to the public on how to deal with rodent problems in the most humane way.”

Julian Kupfer, Chair of Trustees for the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF), said:

“Given the current parliamentary discussions on rodent control measures, we feel that this is a really important and timely scientific contribution. 

“Rats have an enormous and varied impact upon our society. The resultant damage, combined with [the] cost of their control, is a heavy financial burden for those sectors involved. 

“However, rats are sentient beings and the welfare consequences of the various commonly used control methods have always presented a truly uncomfortable ethical dilemma.

“This authoritative paper provides a much needed objective look at the welfare impacts on rats of those control methods by experts from various disciplines and various countries. 

“The results present a real advance in the understanding of those welfare impacts which will help shape present and future approaches, attitudes and research into rodent control. 

“This should lead to effective management measures that at the same time pay due regard to animal welfare.”

This study was also supported by the UKRI ERA-NET RodentGate project, the UKRI MRC GCRF rodent zoonosis control project and the African Union EcoRodMan project.

MORE INFORMATION 

The full paper is available to read here: ingentaconnect.com/contentone/ufaw/aw/2022/00000031/00000001/art00005 

Source: Online