PETA Offers To Help John Bercow Catch His Mouse – Alive

For Immediate Release:
23 January 2010

Contact:
Sam Glover 020 7357 9229, ext 229; [email protected]

London – After learning that John Bercow has been trying to rid his Palace of Westminster residence of an uninvited mouse, PETA has sent the Speaker of the House of Commons an urgent letter imploring him to withhold deadly force. To discourage Bercow from killing the mouse, PETA has also sent him a humane trap along with instructions on how to catch the mouse, release the unharmed animal outside and seal entry places. The situation became public fodder after Bercow’s wife appealed to her Twitter followers for advice on the best way to catch the mouse.

“Mice may be small, but they are bright, social and sensitive animals”, says PETA’s Poorva Joshipura. “Catching mice gently and releasing them outside – unharmed – is a solution that both Bercow and these animals can live with.”

PETA points out that killing mice is not only cruel but also ineffective. As long as the area remains hospitable, more rodents will simply move in to take the place of those mice who were killed. Modifications – including sealing up cracks and holes in walls and foundations, keeping food and rubbish in sealed containers and keeping floors and countertops clean and free of crumbs and spilled food – discourage mice from entering a home.

PETA has also urged Bercow to avoid using glue traps, which are the cruellest rodent-control devices available. Animals who are caught in glue traps panic and struggle – tearing skin and flesh – only to die from shock, dehydration, asphyxiation or blood loss.

Rodents are intelligent animals who feel pain just as all animals do. Mice and rats are fastidiously clean animals who groom themselves several times a day and are less likely to catch and transmit parasites and viruses than dogs and cats are.

PETA’s letter to John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.