Animal welfare is devolved, and since 2023 the four nations have genuinely diverged. This is the same practice compared across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the primary source and a last-checked date against every cell.
This is a description of the law, not legal advice. Every row links to the primary source and carries the date it was last checked. Check the source before relying on it — general licences are reissued each January and commencement dates move.
A glue trap is a board coated in adhesive, used mainly against rodents. The four nations differ on whether use is an offence and on whether a licence is available.
It is an offence to set a glue trap in England for the purpose of catching a rodent. Professional pest controllers may hold a licence issued by Natural England under the Glue Traps (Licensing) Regulations 2024. Commenced by SI 2024/686.
legislation.gov.uk · checked 22 August 2026
Section 46 amended the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to prohibit setting in position or using a glue trap in Wales to kill or take any vertebrate other than a human. The section contains no licensing exception.
legislation.gov.uk · checked 22 August 2026
Using, supplying and possessing a glue trap are each offences. Section 5 allows Scottish Ministers to make regulations authorising use, supply or possession for the protection of public health where no other method of rodent control is practicable. Commenced by SSI 2026/127.
legislation.gov.uk · checked 22 August 2026
No Northern Ireland legislation prohibiting glue traps has been identified. The Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022 creates offences in England. The Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 applies to any animal caught.
legislation.gov.uk · checked 22 August 2026
Status describes the position today. Anything proposed, consulted on or before a legislature is shown separately as a proposed change, and is never counted as law.
“Not recorded” means not recorded. Where a commencement date or an instrument has not been confirmed against a primary source, the cell says so rather than estimating.
Data: /api/law.json. Corrections with a primary source are welcome — a wrong cell here is worse than a missing one.