The Dutch Party for Animals, which entered parliament for the first time last November, has forbidden the laying of poison to deal with a mouse infestation in its offices, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The party, which campaigns for animal rights and compassionate farming, will only allow humane traps in the parliament wing where its offices are housed, allowing trapped mice to be released unharmed, the daily De Telegraaf reported.
The Dutch parliament, or Binnenhof, which is centered around a cluster of medieval buildings with turrets and a moat, has a lingering problem with vermin, the paper said.
It added one Christian Democrat politician joked he had strewn bread crumbs around before handing over his office to the Party for Animals.
The party says it is the first animal rights party to be elected to parliament anywhere in the world. It won two seats in last year’s general election.