(CMR) In a desperate attempt to reduce the number of rats in New York City, Councilmember Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan) has proposed a rat birth control program jointly run by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Sanitation.
Abreu said “ContraPest pellets” would work together with the city’s broader push to fight rats, New York City Post reported.
”We believe that we need to take a shock-and-awe approach to the rat problem by throwing everything we have at it,’’ the Democrat said in council chambers last Thursday.
The contraceptives would be deployed in rat mitigation zones that cover at least 10 city blocks.
The pellets — which have an active ingredient called “triptolide” in them — will sterilize both male and female rats and impact ovarian function and sperm cell production.
According to the New York Post, this is not the first time NYC has tried birth control, but the rats who have the potential to produce 15,000 young a year have always prevailed.
In 1967, then Governor Nelson Rockefeller announced a plan to give rats contraceptives by dissolving a form of estrogen in human birth control in vegetable oil and dipping meat and grains in it.
Abreu said previous attempts in New York were unsuccessful because officials weren’t persistent and used liquid bait and did not pair it with trash containerization — which gives rats fewer food options.
The city introduced an ambitious plan to containerize all garbage in New York City and has introduced free curbside composting to all New Yorkers.
“We will continue to work with all of our partners in government on rat-reduction strategies, and we will review the legislation,” a City Hall spokesperson told The Post.
The pilot program would also effectively protect wildlife Abreu said, noting the tragic death of escaped Central Park Zoo owl Flaco , who was poisoned last month.
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