How to get rid of New York rats without cruelty? Birth control is one idea

New York lawmakers are proposing rules to humanely exterminate populations of rats and other rodents, considering contraception and bans on glue traps as alternatives to poisoning or a slow, brutal death.

Politicians have long come up with creative ways to deal with rodents, but some lawmakers are now proposing more city- and state-wide measures.

The idea of ​​distributing anti-rat contraceptives received renewed attention in New York City government on Thursday after the death of a zoo escapee known as Flaco, who was found dead with rat poison.

City Councilman Sean Abreu on Thursday introduced a city ordinance that would establish a pilot program to control the millions of rats hiding in subway stations and vacant lots by using birth control instead of lethal chemicals. Abreu, chairman of the Sanitation and Solid Waste Management Committee, said contraceptives are more ethical and humane than other methods.

The contraceptive, called ContraPest, comes in salty, greasy pellets that are scattered as bait in rat-infested areas. It targets ovarian function in female rats and works by disrupting sperm production in males, according to The New York Times.

Currently, New York exterminators kill rats using caps, poisons that cause them to bleed internally, and carbon monoxide gas that suffocates them in pits. Some enthusiasts have even trained their dogs to hunt.

Film and TV actor Rashad Edwards, who runs Scurry Inc., a pest control company in New York, said the best method of rodent control is carbon monoxide.

He tries to use the most humane method possible, and carbon monoxide slowly euthanizes the rats, putting them to sleep and killing them. Whenever possible, Edwards avoids using rat poison because it's dangerous and painful for the rodents, he said.

Some lawmakers in Albany are considering a statewide ban on glue boards under a bill making its way through the Legislature. Traps, usually made of cardboard or plastic coated with an adhesive material, can also trap small animals that land on its surface.

Edwards opposes a ban on sticky traps because he sees them being used on other pests, such as ants, to reduce overall pesticide use. When ants enter a house, they use sticky traps to determine where they frequent. This helps him narrow down the areas of pesticide application “so you don't spray it all over the place.”

“This is not an issue we can avoid,” said Jacob Shaw, special project manager for the ethical treatment of animals. “It is time to adopt these common sense and humane methods.”

Two California cities have banned glue sticks in recent years. At the federal level, a bill currently in committee would ban snares nationwide.

“This is going to stop the really inhumane practice of managing rat populations,” said Jabari Brisport, a New York state senator from Brooklyn who sponsored the bill proposing the new guidelines. “There are effective and humane methods of dealing with rats.”

Each generation of New Yorkers has fought to control the rat population. Mayor Eric Adams hired a “rat king” last year to tackle the pesky rodents. Last month, New York City reduced the amount of rat food and required all businesses to put it in trash cans.

Although there is no end in sight to the war on rats, exterminator Edwards said there is much to be learned from their resilience. He said rodents can never be eradicated, only managed.

“They're very smart and they're very wise,” he said. “It's very inspiring, but just – not in my house.”

Maysun Khan and Cedar Attanasio, Associated Press