India's Glue-Trap Bans Have Spread to 30+ States. What Replaces Them?

In September 2023, the Delhi government banned the manufacture, sale, and use of glue pads (commonly called glue traps) for rodent control, acting on an advisory from the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), first issued in 2011 and reiterated in 2021, following an appeal from PETA India. What's notable is what's happened since: state by state, in response to continued appeals, more than 30 Indian states and union territories have now issued similar directives against glue traps, making this one of the more widely adopted animal-welfare-driven restrictions on a pest-control method anywhere in the country.

Why glue traps specifically drew this response

The objection to glue traps is specific and consistent across every state that has acted on it: an animal caught on one is unable to free itself, often attempts to chew off the trapped body part, and dies slowly from exhaustion or starvation rather than quickly. It's also not a precision tool — squirrels, frogs, and other small non-target animals get caught in glue traps by accident just as easily as the rodents the trap was actually meant for, which is part of why wildlife and animal-welfare advocates pushed the issue beyond a narrow pest-control question.

The question the ban itself doesn't answer

Coverage of the trend has specifically flagged what happens after a glue-trap ban takes effect: the common default alternative is rodenticide, commonly known as rat poison, and poison carries a different but equally real risk. Secondary poisoning is well documented — animals that feed on a poisoned rodent's carcass, or catch a rodent that's already weakened by poison, can be harmed by the same toxin passing up the food chain. Cats, snakes, mongooses, and birds of prey are all cited as species vulnerable to this kind of secondary exposure. In other words, banning one method hasn't, on its own, settled the question of what the safer replacement actually is.

Why this points toward combining methods, not picking one

The practical answer to "glue traps or poison" is usually neither treated in isolation. Professional rodent management typically combines physical exclusion — sealing the gaps and entry points rodents actually use to get in — with sanitation measures that remove the food, water, and shelter conditions drawing rodents to a property in the first place, alongside targeted trapping placed and monitored carefully rather than broadly scattered poison or glue. Reducing the underlying attractants and access points cuts down how much either tool needs to be relied on at all, which matters given that both carry real downsides when used as the sole method.

• Glue traps are now banned for manufacture, sale, or use across more than 30 Indian states and union territories — check local regulations before buying or using one.
• Rodenticide isn't automatically the "safe" alternative; secondary poisoning of pets and wildlife is a real, documented risk if it isn't placed and managed carefully.
• Sealing entry points and removing food/water sources reduces how often either tool is needed in the first place, regardless of which one is used.
• A professional rodent control approach should be able to explain which specific methods are being used on a property and why, rather than defaulting to one tool for every situation.

Effective rodent control doesn't come down to picking the "right" single tool — it comes down to combining exclusion, sanitation, and targeted control in a way that's actually appropriate for a specific property. A free Sevacorp inspection can assess what's actually drawing rodents to a property and recommend an approach suited to it.

• Sources:
• Down To Earth — "Delhi has joined several Indian states in banning glue pads for rodent control. But what about poison?" — https://www.downtoearth.org.in/wildlife-biodiversity/delhi-has-joined-several-indian-states-in-banning-glue-pads-for-rodent-control-but-what-about-poison--91766
• PETA India — "Delhi Government Bans Cruel Glue Traps in Response to PETA India Appeal" — https://www.petaindia.com/blog/delhi-government-bans-cruel-glue-traps-in-response-to-peta-india-appeal/
• PETA India — "Punjab Joins 25 Other States and UTs in Banning Cruel Glue Traps for Rodent Control in Response to PETA India Appeal" — https://www.petaindia.com/blog/punjab-joins-25-other-states-and-uts-in-banning-cruel-glue-traps-for-rodent-control-in-response-to-peta-india-appeal/