At Wildlife Rescue NM, we care for wildlife who come to us with all kinds of injuries and illnesses. Many are victims of the challenges of living in an urban environment. They are hit by cars, injured by domestic animals, or left dehydrated when our river runs dry. These situations are heartbreaking, but they are generally not the result of anyone deliberately trying to harm wildlife. Our staff does everything possible to treat these victims of accidents, negligence, and climate change. We stabilize them, rehabilitate them, and, very often, give them a second chance to return to the wild.
But there is another category of injury we see that is especially devastating: wildlife caught on glue traps.
The suffering these animals endure is immense. They become stuck, often struggling desperately to escape and causing further injuries to themselves. Freeing them can require hours of painstaking, traumatic work to remove the adhesive without causing additional harm. Many do not survive. Those who do may require weeks or longer in our care to recover.
The animals suffer, and so do the people who find them. We see the tears, the anguish, and the guilt of people who desperately want to help but cannot free an animal from the trap. And all of this suffering is preventable. It could have been avoided simply by not using a glue trap.
Glue traps are an inhumane method of pest control. Rather than killing an animal quickly, they leave them immobilized and terrified, sometimes for days, until they die from dehydration, starvation, or injuries. Trapped animals urinate and defecate excessively as they struggle, creating additional public health concerns for people and companion animals. That’s why the New Mexico Department of Health’s Communicable Disease Manual recommends against using glue traps.
At Wildlife Rescue NM, we have treated rabbits, hummingbirds, owls, bats, lizards, and other animals injured by these traps. Other wildlife rehabilitators have reported trying to save hawks, songbirds, and many more. Even threatened or endangered species can become victims. Without timely intervention, an animal caught on a glue trap has little to no chance of survival.
In September, someone brought a hummingbird to us who had been caught on a glue trap. Unfortunately, the hummingbird was stuck on a trap set for mice and was unable to move. The veterinarian team at Wildlife Rescue leapt into action and after soaking the birds feet in a special solution for hours, was able to free her. Sadly, not every animal who is brought to us on a glue trap is this lucky. Still, the situation was traumatic for the bird, the person who found her, and the clinic staff.
Every animal we receive is an individual life worth protecting. Stories like this remind us that glue traps inflict suffering on the very wildlife our community should be working to protect.
That is why Wildlife Rescue NM and Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn support O-26-62 which will prohibit the use of these cruel and indiscriminate glue traps in Albuquerque.
Albuquerque is home to a remarkable diversity of wildlife. Our native animals are already facing habitat loss, drought, extreme heat, and the growing impacts of climate change. We should not add preventable suffering from glue traps to the challenges they face.
We urge the City Council to support O-26-62. Humane alternatives are possible. We do not need to accept this level of unnecessary suffering as the price of living in a city.
Please support O-26-62 and help make Albuquerque a safer place for our wildlife.