Loblaw Pulled This Wasp Trap After It Caught Seven Birds That Couldn't Get Free

    "My heart hurts."

    Lauren Strapagiel
    by Lauren Strapagiel

    BuzzFeed Staff

    A wasp trap that killed seven birds is being pulled from stores after a Facebook post showing the carnage went viral.

    Phoenix Pike

    Real Canadian Superstores, owned by Loblaw, was selling a Rescue TrapStik — a sticky trap meant to catch wasps.

    Unfortunately, it also caught these birds who were unable to escape and died.

    Phoenix Pike

    Phoenix Pike told BuzzFeed Canada her aunt and uncle had placed the trap in their Waterloo, Ontario, home in an eaves trough, as instructed by the packaging. When they checked it last Friday, they found seven little birds trapped and dying.

    "It broke my heart to find out that my 10-year-old cousin was the one who found it," said Pike. "He was traumatized from it."

    Phoenix Pike

    Pike's uncle called the Real Canadian Superstore where they brought the trap to alert it, but Pike said he was told nothing would be done.

    "[The store] said they had a commitment and a contract with the company and they would not pull the product," said Pike.

    Pike decided to share the photos and a warning in a Facebook post that has now been shared more than 58,000 times.

    Pike said they later found out the company also sells a wire cage to prevent larger creatures from getting stuck, but that wasn't made clear at the store.

    View this post on Facebook
    Facebook: Pookie1986

    Pike said they later found out the company also sells a wire cage to prevent larger creatures from getting stuck, but that wasn't made clear at the store.

    The post got the attention of Rescue, who tweeted that birds getting stuck in the traps is an "extremely rare" occurrence.

    RESCUE! Pest Control @rescue

    @mel_t19 We are just as upset as you are to see this. However, it is an extremely rare occurrence. Details here: https://t.co/H2PSC64oNp

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    "In the 5 years since this product was introduced in the U.S., we’ve sold over 1 million TrapStiks, and have been alerted to a bird catch about a dozen times," Rescue said in an additional statement.

    "While rare, we acknowledge that this is an upsetting and traumatizing sight for anyone to see."

    A spokesperson for Loblaw told CTV News that this is the first it has heard about birds getting caught, but that it plans to take the product of the shelves. They will also accept returns on the product.

    Pike said she never expected her post to go viral, but she's happy it did.

    "I didn’t think it was going to go to media, but I’m glad that it did, because in the end Loblaw has pulled the product."