Q&A for How to Humanely Kill a Rodent

If you could cut the head off quickly without alerting the rodent first, then it could be considered humane, but it's certainly not the best option.

Leaving it in the sun causes heatstroke, which is very slow and painful. Hot water drowning is even more painful than drowning in lukewarm water, which is already considered inhumane. In short, neither choice is humane.

Get it checked out ASAP. Rats carry deadly pathogens and diseases than can make you very sick.

If at all possible, I would just avoid letting your daughter know about the rat. If she does, then I would just have a talk with her about why you're killing the rat so she can understand it better.

I grabbed a small plastic bottle and poured vinegar in it, and then placed it gently into the baggy of baking soda. Once the tube was in place and as airtight as possible, I poured the bottle out from inside the bag.

In theory, yes, but chloroform isn’t available for people to just buy. However, if you could find a similar way to anesthetize the rodent without hurting yourself, you could do so, and then proceed to kill it quickly.

Shooting a rat with a gun is massively more painful than killing it with a trap. Most people are amateurs at marksmanship so their accuracy will be very poor. They are likely to miss the head of such a small target and shoot the body instead, causing a slow painful death. Traps are easier to set up, safer to use and more humane.

No, there will be a fee for the euthanasia services.

No, of course not. That would be extremely cruel.

Letting your cat kill a rodent, where you make the conscious decision to allow it to happen, is definitely inhumane. The rodent would go through extreme distress and pain as it died. However, if your cat kills a rodent on its own, that can be considered natural.

There will never be a 100% humane way to kill a rodent. This article presents ways that are humane as possible.

Absolutely not. Starvation is extremely slow and extremely painful. Use methods that kill immediately.

It depends on the vet, the method, whether you want it done at the clinic or at home, what you want to be done with the body afterwards, etc. Check with your vet.

This article is about humane methods. That's not humane.

Some people believe that killing any animal as large as a rodent can be inhumane if done in certain ways. You don't have to agree with them.

Poor creatures can become nuisances in certain extreme circumstances.