New York lawmakers are proposing rules to humanely reduce the population of rats and other rodents, considering contraception and a ban on glue traps as alternatives to poison or a slow, brutal death.
Politicians have long come up with creative ways to combat rodents, but some lawmakers are now proposing city and state measures to do more.
In New York City, the idea of distributing contraceptives to rats received new attention from the city government on Thursday following the death of an escaped zoo owl known as Flaco, which was found dead with rat poison in its system.
Councilman Shaun Abreu on Thursday proposed a city ordinance that would establish a pilot program to control the millions of rats that lurk in subway stations and vacant lots, using contraceptive methods instead of lethal chemicals. Abreu, president of the Sanitation and Solid Waste Management Committee, said contraceptives are also more ethical and humane than other methods.
The contraceptive, called ContraPest, is contained in fatty, salty pellets that are spread in rat-infested areas as bait. It works by targeting ovarian function in female rats and stopping sperm production in males, The New York Times reported.
New York exterminators currently kill rats using pressure traps and glue, poisons that make them bleed internally and carbon monoxide gas that can suffocate them in burrows. Some hobbyists have even trained their dogs to hunt them.
Rashad Edwards, a film and television actor who runs the pest control company Scurry Inc. in New York City with his wife, said the best method he has found to deal with rodents is carbon monoxide.
He tries to use the most humane method possible, and the carbon monoxide slowly euthanizes the rats, putting them to sleep and killing them. Edwards avoids using rat poison whenever possible because it is dangerous and torturous to rodents, he said.
Some lawmakers in Albany are considering a statewide ban on sticker signs under a bill making its way through the Legislature. Traps, usually made of cardboard or plastic coated with sticky material, can also capture small animals that land on their surface.
Edwards opposes banning sticky traps because he uses them on other pests, such as ants, to reduce global pesticide use. When ants enter a house, he uses sticky traps to find out where they pass most frequently. This helps him narrow down pesticide use zones “so you’re not spraying the entire place.”
“This is not a problem we can kill,” said Jakob Shaw, special project manager at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. “It’s time to adopt these more humane, common-sense methods.”
Two California cities have passed glue trap bans in recent years. At the federal level, a bill currently in committee would ban trapping nationwide.
“This ends a truly inhumane practice of managing rat populations,” said Jabari Brisport, the New York state senator who represents part of Brooklyn and sponsored the bill proposing the new guidelines. “There are more effective and humane ways to deal with rats.”
Each generation of New Yorkers has struggled to control rat populations. Mayor Eric Adams hired a “rat czar” last year to combat the detested rodents. Last month, New York City reduced the amount of food served to rats, forcing all businesses to put trash in bins.
While the war on rats has no end in sight, exterminator Edwards said we can learn a lot from their resilience. Rodents, he said, can never be eradicated, only controlled.
“They are very intelligent and very wise,” he said. “It’s very inspiring, but just – not in my house.”
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