Question reference: S5W-31470
- Date lodged: 28 August 2020
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Current status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 7 September 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is considering introducing an outright ban on the sale and use of rodent glue traps, or only prohibiting the use and purchase by members of the public and, if the later, who will be allowed to continue to set glue traps, and how these users will be (a) defined and (b) regulated.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s response of 23 March 2020 to the Public Petitions Committee regarding Petition 1671 on the sale and use of glue traps set out that our preference is to introduce legislation to ban the sale and use of glue traps except by professional pest controllers and that, unfortunately, there has not been a suitable legislative opportunity to take this legislation forward to-date. The response can be found at the following link: http://www.parliament.scot/S5_PublicPetitionsCommittee/
Submissions%202020/PE1671_T.pdf
The newly formed Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) has a Glue Traps Working Group. Details of the SAWC can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/groups/
scottish-animal-welfare-commission/ . The remit of the Glue Traps Working Group is to: ‘Provide an opinion on the use and impact of these forms of wildlife management. This may include, but not be restricted to, suggesting future regulations and control e.g. restricting use to professional pest managers only or others.' The group is currently gathering evidence and opinions from experts and interested parties in order to inform their consideration of this issue.
The Scottish Government will take into account the findings of the Glue Traps Working Group when bringing forward any future legislation in this area.