Stick to Ditching Glue Traps at Joliet West High School

On the morning of Friday, April 20th, 2018. A mouse had been caught in a glue trap, which is one of the most inhumane methods of rodent control.
The foods room is a well-known area for mice, leading to glue traps being left out. The mouse had been stuck as my teacher had picked up the trap as my peers and I watched, I had suggested to try to remove the mouse with a simple method with everything needed in the room already, such as cooking oil, dish soap, and towels.
My request had been denied as my teacher threw the mouse on the trap in the trash then had a student take it to the dumpster. A life thrown into the trash. A living, breathing being disregarded in such a disgusting manner. What is this teaching our students? A life is worth nothing unless they are a human?
This was brought to the principal of Joliet West, Dr. Gibson, waiting a week after a first email was set, a second finally had been able to set up a meeting for discussion. My pleas were ignored as no action was taken to change from glue traps to more humane catch and release or fast acting traps. During the discussion pieces of my statement had been picked and processed as I was interrupted on multiple occasions, this in turn lead to only FIVE minutes in her office from walking into the door. No action was taken after a month’s time.
This lead to the incident on Thursday, May 24th, another mouse had been trapped, this time only its paws were stuck and a little head was seen poking out as it cried out in help, this time I held the trap in my own hands asking again if I could try to set the mouse free, I was instantly declined as the mouse had been taken out of my hands, and thrown into the trash still alive.
A counselor, Mrs. Fredrickson had been notified in person as in this occurrence, I was told " If You need to vent, you can", " If this was your house you could remove the mouse, but this isn't your house, this is the schools choice". The choice of taking a life, in front of students, those who the education systems dedicates themselves to teaching. Compassion is not limited to being taught through human interaction. We are not the only sentient beings on this planet.
This is the reality of the mice who are caught, they become stuck to the sticky sheet leading to the animal struggling to get free; during this the individual becomes even more stuck, it is an extremely common occurrence that the mice rip off chunks of fur as well as their own skin trying to free themselves, not only but those out of desperation have been known to chew off their own limbs. That's only their fight for life, while they are stuck, death is slow and painful. They die from starvation, dehydration, exhaustion, suffocation (from trying to chew the glue off), or stress. This can take days for the rodent to finally die. This is the cruelty these animals endure if they accidentally stumble upon these traps.