Prohibit import, sale, use of glue traps: Animal welfare board

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Prohibit-import-sale-use-of-glue-traps-Animal-welfare-board/articleshow/9707950.cms

PUNE: In response to a petition by the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO), Major General R M Kharb, chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) has issued a circular asking the chief secretaries of state governments and the director general of foreign trade to prohibit sale, manufacture, use and import of glue traps.

Glue traps, also known as glue boards or sticky traps, are a type of non-lethal or restraining rodent traps that are used mostly to trap rats and mice. The animals are caught in the trap by their feet or fur and these attached animals are thrown away still stuck to the trap, and cannot escape. They endure a prolonged period of terror, pain and distress before death. Their desperate efforts to escape from the trap result in torn skin and broken legs while some even try to bite through their limbs in an attempt to get away. Other birds and animals can also end up in these traps and then suffer a similar fate.

Mice stuck on a glue trap

"The use of glue traps for controlling rats and rodents is in contravention of the provisions contained in Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960"; said Major General R M Kharb, chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).

"We are grateful to the Animal Welfare Board of India and we certainly expect that the state governments and the DGFT will issue appropriate orders"; said Arpan Sharma, chief executive officer of FIAPO . "Stores, manufactures, importers, pest control agencies and consumers who continue to sell, manufacture, import and use glue traps must be prosecuted under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act," Sharma said.

Facts:

AWBI is a statutory body of the Government of India established in 1962 under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. It has been constituted to promote animal welfare in general and for protecting animals from being subjected to unnecessary pain and suffering. At present, AWBI works under the Ministry of Environment and Forests,

FIAPO is India's umbrella animal welfare body concerned with the protection and welfare of all animals, with hundreds of members and colleagues across the country.