April 24, 2026
The Laguna Beach City Council
City Hall
505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Dear Mayor Orgill, Mayor Pro Tem Jones, Councilmember Kempf, Councilmember Rounaghi, and Councilmember Whalen:
Greetings on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 1,000 members and supporters in the City of Laguna Beach. We’re writing to express our strong support for an ordinance prohibiting the use and sale of glue traps, as it would protect thousands of animals each year from these singularly cruel and indiscriminate devices.
As you may know, glue traps are one of the most inhumane methods of killing animals in existence today. When animals wander onto the surface of a glue trap, their limbs and faces often become stuck to the adhesive: their nostrils, mouths, and eyes can become glued shut, and many are so terrified that they break bones or chew off their own limbs in a desperate effort to escape. Studies have found that more than 85% of animals caught in glue traps suffer for more than 24 hours, and these trapped animals die terrifying and excruciating deaths from blood loss, starvation, dehydration, or asphyxiation.
Glue traps are also completely indiscriminate. Over the last decade, they have killed, injured, and permanently disabled members of at least 180 species, including lizards, mice, rabbits, bats, birds, chipmunks, snakes, squirrels, and even cats and dogs.
Additionally, both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health warn the public not to use glue traps because they increase people’s exposure to zoonotic diseases like Hantavirus. These cruel and dangerous traps are already banned in England, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales, and throughout much of Australia, Belgium, and India.
Here in California, the cities of Culver City, Ojai, West Hollywood, and Ventura have all adopted ordinances prohibiting the use and sale of glue traps.
We hope the council will vote to make Laguna Beach the latest city to adopt a ban on cruel glue traps, which will protect public health and spare animals from the most painful and terrifying deaths imaginable. Thank you for your consideration and for all that you do for the city.
Sincerely,
Jakob Shaw
Manager, Strategic Initiatives