If the trap is wobbly, don't knock.
New York City's rat control extends to the furry beasts' bedrooms, with the city council approving a measure that combines mouse traps with rodent birth control.
According to PIX 11, the bill passed Thursday greenlights a program in parts of the city to place contraceptive pellets called ContraPest in special containers that rats can access.
If all goes as planned, the rats will be able to take contraceptive pills and be sterilized, preventing successive generations of rats from filling the city's streets.
The bill is named after the famous owl of the same name that captured the hearts of New Yorkers when it escaped from the Central Park Zoo in 2023 and was later found tragically dead after ingesting rat poison. It was called “The Law.”
Supporters say Flaco's law aims to find ways to reduce the city's population through measures that prevent other animals from being accidentally harmed.
“We can't poison our way out of this situation, and we can't kill our way out of this situation,” Councilman Sean Abreu said when he first introduced the bill in April. .
The pilot program will run for at least 12 months, with inspectors checking the number of pellets consumed in different regions each month.
“During monthly inspections of pilot program areas, the department shall track the amount of rat contraceptives in each rat contraceptive dispenser,” the bill states.
This is just the city's latest effort to use contraceptives to control rat fertility.
In 1967, then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller rolled out a program to feed rats with estrogen, but the rat population apparently continued. And 10 years ago, a joint program with the MTA attempted to control Bryant Park's rat population with contraceptives.
But the problem persists, and Mayor Adams famously declared war on rats, crowning the city's “rat czar” Kathleen Corradi and giving her a full-time job tackling the problem. is.
Abreu said other efforts to use contraceptives failed because the city wasn't persistent enough and the baits used were ineffective at attracting rats.
He hopes ContraPest will make a difference.
“It's salty, sweet, and contains fat that attracts rats, who carry it back to their burrows for other rats to eat,” he said.
The plan was well-received by PETA, who expressed hope in a statement that the city is “very close” to solving the rat problem humanely.
“Hats off to the City Council for taking this huge step to save so many precious little lives. PETA is calling out the City and its self-proclaimed 'bloodthirsty' rat emperor for cruel and lethal methods such as poisoning and suffocation. “We strongly urge them to prioritize effective methods of extermination, such as reducing waste and contraception,” the animal rights organization said.
