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.

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

Get a hammer. If you hit it relatively hard in the head as directed in the article, the mouse will die a fairly painless death. If all else fails, you may need to cut its head off, but this would be very fast and somewhat painful for the mouse.

You would put it in a trash bin, though you should probably bury it instead.

If the rodent is still alive in the trap, hit its head with a blunt object as directed in the article. Yes, we can assume that starving to death is quite painful for the rodent.

No! How would you like to be nailed to a wall and slashed to death? That would be crazily bloody and painful for the rat!

You will probably have a kitchen knife or a hammer. Use the hammer as directed in the article or deliver a swift, hard blow to the rat's neck.

You should probably cut its head off very quickly. Use a swift blow and make sure that the blade is angled correctly. Wear gloves and old clothes, this is likely to be bloody.

Probably not. Well, maybe if you gave it the strong painkiller and then hit it in the head to make sure it is dead would be good. Not all painkillers will put them to sleep.

Poor creatures can become nuisances in certain extreme circumstances.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.