Testing animal welfare of house mouse (Mus musculus) snap and electrocution traps

DYMKE, Deborah, Samantha FLEISCHER, Anke GEDUHN, Agnes KALLE, Annika SCHLÖTELBURG und Erik SCHMOLZ, 2022. Testing animal welfare of house mouse (Mus musculus) snap and electrocution traps. In: Mammal Trapping, Wildlife Conservation, and Animal Welfare [online]. Verfügbar unter: https://openumwelt.de/handle/123456789/2926

Zusammenfassung englisch

The use of killing traps for rodent pest control is currently gaining relevance again but there is no approval or authorization process for rodent traps in most countries. Hence, a guidance for testing and evaluating animal welfare impact was recently published by the expert group on "Non-Chemical alternatives for Rodent control" (NoCheRo). Using the NoCheRo- Guidance, we investigated the animal welfare impact of 10 different house mouse (Mus musculus) killing trap products in a semi-natural setting. All 10 trap products were attractive to the target mice because >/= 90% of them visited the traps at least once within a few days; in 5 tests, >/= 90% approached traps on the 1st day. Two electrocution trap products and 3 of 8 (37.5%) snap trap products met the animal welfare criteria. Most (95%) of the test animals caught with criteria-compliant traps were irreversibly unconscious within 50 sec; 90% within 30 sec. The majority (97 %) of house mice were rapidly unconscious when hit in the head/neck region by a snap trap. Five trap products were not in compliance with the animal welfare criteria. The results show that the NoCheRo-Guidance enables a distinction between rodent traps that meet the criteria for animal welfare and those that are deficient in this respect. Certification of such tested traps based on a sound scientific basis allows for a selection of suitable traps, and thus improve animal welfare in pest rodent control. © 2022 by the authors

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https://openumwelt.de/handle/123456789/2926

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