New York Plans to Control Rat Population with Birth Control Program

In an effort to curb the city’s rat problem, New York officials are introducing a unique birth control program for rats. Learn more about this innovative approach and its expected impact.

New York has given the green light to a pilot program aimed at lowering the city’s rat population without resorting to poison. Beginning next year, contraceptive pellets will be distributed in special containers accessible only by rats across various neighborhoods of the city.

Advocates for this method assert that it offers a humane way to decrease the rat population without posing risks to other animals or the environment. If successful, rats will consume the contraceptive, become sterilized, and thereby be unable to reproduce.

The initiative has been named ‘Flaco’s Law’ in honor of an owl by the same name that escaped from a city zoo last year. According to local media, the owl was later found dead with rat poison in its system.

“We can’t poison our way out of this, and we cannot kill our way out of this,” City Council member Shaun Abreu said in April when he initially introduced the bill.

Over the course of a 12-month pilot program, inspectors will conduct monthly checks to monitor pellet consumption across various neighborhoods.

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“The bill provisions stipulate that during monthly inspections of the pilot-program areas, the department shall monitor the quantity of rat contraceptive in each dispenser.”

Senestech, the manufacturer of the plant-based product Contrapest, asserts that each dose inhibits rat reproduction for 45 days. They claim this method humanely reduces populations without posing a risk to other animals or harming the environment.

New York has long struggled with a notorious rat problem. According to an estimate by pest-control firm MMPC, around three million rats inhabit the Big Apple—a figure derived from Jonathan Auerbach’s 2014 study.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has applauded what it described as an “innovative approach” to addressing the issue, commending the city for choosing birth control instead of inhumane and lethal methods like poisoning or suffocation.