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Amazon UK Is STILL Selling Glue Traps Despite Evidence of Illegal Use
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It takes seconds. Seconds to find glue traps for sale on Amazon UK. Seconds to buy them. Seconds to scroll through the reviews and see the reality.
These products may be marketed for insects, but there is clear evidence they are being used on rodents in the UK. Within just a few listings, there are videos and images showing the truth. Mice and rats, living animals, stuck on glue traps purchased from Amazon UK. Panicking. Struggling. Suffering. This is happening in the UK, in plain sight, on listings hosted on Amazon UK’s platform.
And in much of the UK, the use of glue traps is illegal.
A rat that was sadistically named Fred before being caught and then killed in a glue trap purchased from Amazon UK less than two weeks ago.
Let’s be absolutely clear about the law:
- In England, under the Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022, it is a criminal offence to use glue traps unless you are a licensed professional operating under strict and exceptional conditions, yet anyone and everyone can buy them from Amazon UK and use them unlawfully.
- In Wales, the law goes further. Under the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023, glue traps are completely banned.
- In Scotland, the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 will ban the use, possession and sale of rodent glue traps from 1 July 2026.
The direction of travel across the UK is unmistakable. These devices are being recognised for what they are: cruel, indiscriminate, and unacceptable. And yet Amazon UK continues to sell them freely. This highlights a clear gap between the law and what is happening in practice. This is a platform making these products easily accessible, despite evidence they are being misused.
Amazon UK is one of the UK’s largest e-commerce platforms. It has the power to restrict products by location, to enforce compliance, and to remove harmful items. Yet these products remain available without restriction.
And that choice has consequences.
Glue traps are one of the most inhumane devices still in use. Animals caught on them do not die quickly. They suffer for hours, sometimes days. They fight to escape. They tear their own skin, break their own limbs, suffocate, starve, or die from sheer exhaustion and fear.
Video taken and uploaded to Amazon UK on the 30th of January last year, after they were made illegal in England and Wales.
This is prolonged, preventable cruelty and these products continue to be sold through Amazon UK. The evidence is not hidden. It is on their own website. There are recent posts, including from late March 2026, showing live rats and mice stuck on glue traps sold through Amazon UK. And it does not stop there.
You can purchase these traps yourself, even while living in England, where their use is heavily restricted by law. There are no warning messages. No restrictions. No safeguards. It takes less than 20 seconds to complete a purchase. Whether through oversight or policy, the current system allows these products to be purchased without restriction.
Video taken and uploaded to Amazon UK on the 14th of February last year, after they were made illegal in England and Wales.
It shows, beyond doubt, that Amazon UK cannot regulate how these products are used. And yet it continues to sell them anyway.
Even the RSPCA has stepped in. On 5 April, on instagram they urged the public to report the sale and use of glue traps to the police via 101. That should be a wake up call. When a major animal welfare organisation is telling people to report a product, why is it still being sold by the UK’s largest online retailer?
This is not just a reputational issue. It raises serious legal and moral concerns. By allowing unrestricted sales, Amazon UK is actively undermining the intent of UK law and allowing the continued availability of products linked to serious animal welfare concerns.
Yet, the solution could not be simpler: Amazon UK could stop this today.
A basic postcode restriction would prevent glue traps being sold to England, Wales and Scotland. Listings could be removed from the UK platform entirely. These are standard controls. Amazon UK already has the infrastructure to do this. And glue traps are low value items. Removing them would have no meaningful financial impact.
But the impact on animals would be enormous. Thousands of animals could be spared prolonged suffering and unlawful deaths.
Screenshot showing someone using glue traps bought from Amazon Uk to catch and kill mice, February 6th 2026.
Amazon UK has already faced scrutiny for failing to control the sale of harmful products. This is another moment where it must decide what kind of company it wants to be.
Will it continue to profit from animal cruelty it can see happening on its own platform?Or will it act?
We are calling on Amazon UK to do the right thing – stop the sale of glue traps to England, Wales and Scotland. Implement postcode restrictions. Remove these products from your platform.
And end this cruelty.
Now.
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