Global Courant 2023-04-17 22:00:46
Animal activists acknowledged New York City’s growing rat problem, but blamed the rodent infestation on “disgusting human behavior” and condemned plans to kill them.
“I don’t think any of us want to see the rat-infested city as it is today, and neither do PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and other people who care about animals,” said Ashley Byrne, PETA’s director of communications. said, according to the New York Post.
“The rats you see on the street are still sensitive, intelligent animals and they deserve better than to be killed in gruesome, painful ways.”
Byrne attributed the city’s rat population to humans providing for their food supply by not adequately disposing of their waste.
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PETA urged New York City to find humane ways to reduce the city’s growing rat infestation. (iStock)
“As long as the trash is there and it’s not controlled, the rats will be there,” she told the outlet. “We have a disgusting human behavior problem, not a rat problem.”
She went on to say that “it’s much easier for the city to demonize rats in this cartoonish way than it is to tell New Yorkers to get their act together and stop treating the city like a dump.”
Democratic Mayor Eric Adams last week appointed Kathleen Corradi as New York City’s first rodent control director, dubbed a “rat czar.” The job description called for someone who is “slightly bloodthirsty” and committed to “massive slaughter” of the disease-ridden rodents.
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk met last week with Rachel Atcheson, who serves as a special adviser to Adams’ Chief of Staff, to discuss humane ways the city can reduce the number of rats plaguing New Yorkers.
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A rat crosses a subway platform in New York’s Times Square on January 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
“We are in contact with the mayor’s office, but given the demonization of rats by humans, we fear that chemical sterilization (contraception), which is the most humane method, apart from better garbage collection and cleaning the streets of man-made food, junk, takes time and is therefore considered too slow in instant gratification and rat carcasses,” Newkirk said in a statement to the Post.
“If killing is the goal, more rats will come to fill the void and the cycle will continue,” Newkirk said, adding that she feared city officials’ harsh talk about rats means “be kind to these small mammals — which feel pain and feel every fear”. as much as a dog, cat, or the “rat czar” himself – is apparently not a consideration.
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The number of rat sightings in New York City has exploded in recent years, with a report released last fall noting that the number of sightings has increased by 70% compared to two years earlier. Adams has described rats as “public enemy number one,” and the City Council voted in October on a rat action plan to systematically address the problem.
Mayor Eric Adams has said that rats are “public enemy number one” in New York City. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“Every New Yorker hates rats — they are gross, sick, and affect our quality of life,” Adams press secretary Fabien Levy told the Post. “They also pose a public health risk to all New Yorkers. We’ve hired a rat czar to expand what works and bring a unified strategy to the war on rats so that ultimately we can make progress and rid our city of this sick rodents.”
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“We’re pleased that PETA agrees with the plans we already have to take out later and pick up earlier, but we’re also continuing to look at every possible rat control tool and technique to see what works best. for New York City.” Levy added. “While we hope to use these techniques without causing additional suffering, our priority remains the residents of our city, not the rodents.”
Jon Brown is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
