New York City Introduces Birth Control for Rats

 In a bid to control the rodent population in the state, the New York City's city council has introduced a bill to put rat contraceptives on the streets instead of poison. The new bill which was introduced on 10th April 2024, would require the city’s health department to deploy salty pellets that sterilize both male and female rats in two neighborhoods as part of a pilot program. The pellets would be used within so-called rat mitigation zones covering at least 10 city blocks.

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Council member Shaun Abreu, the bill's prime sponsor, who referred to the introduction of birth control for rats as the "humane alternative to rodenticides",  said it's a more effective method to reduce the number of rats in the city in the addition to being safer for other animals. Explaining the reason for his safety concerns towards rats and other animals, Council member, Shaun Abreu, stated: "It's a particular issue after Flaco, an owl who escaped the Central Park Zoo, died in part due to ingesting too much rat poison."