This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

We’re outraged and deeply dismayed by New York City’s new so-called “humane” plan to drown terrified wild rats in alcohol as they suffer and flail about while surrounded by the bodies of their dead friends and families. This extremely barbaric, short-sighted and ineffective plan ignores expert advice to focus on exclusion and contraceptives. This cruel massacre must be stopped!

Earlier this month, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams introduced a new, heartless method to attempt to decrease rat populations: Ekomille rat traps. These horrific 2-foot-tall traps lure in unsuspecting rats with bait and then drop them into a tank of alcohol-based solution where they futilely struggle and drown to death surrounded by the bodies of previous victims. Can you imagine dying this way? Would you wish this death on anyone?

New York City media outlet, Gothamist, shared disturbing video of a presentation where one of the traps was opened which allowed for the bodies of the bloated dead rat victims to be seen floating in a murky solution dubbed “rat soup torture.” The video shows these poor rats being ladled into trash bags while onlookers react - some with horror and others with insensitive jokes.

Famed rodentologist Bobby Corrigan says this of Ekomille traps: “Any veterinarian in the world would tell you that drowning is an incredibly inhumane way to kill a mammal, I have no idea how that’s considered humane.”

Not only are these traps unnecessary and brutal, but new research also suggests that killing rats is not an effective strategy for population management. Toxic chemicals, poisons, and even traps are not effective. The most obvious and simple solution is to dispose of and contain our trash properly, which New York City has repeatedly failed to do in any comprehensive fashion. Why should millions of animals suffer because we can’t or won’t clean up after ourselves?

According to Corrigan, the most significant reason for the uptick in the rat population is that New York’s human population has ballooned in the last decade, while its waste disposal system stays mired in the past. 

For truly humane and long-term rat population control, he recommends birth control and exclusion. Exclusion techniques include the proper removal of food sources and waste, blockage of possible entry points into buildings, and methods to repel and deter rats. Corrigan asserts that, “Just putting out some kind of trap is not going to touch Brooklyn’s rat population. If you’re not willing to revamp your refuse management program, you don’t have a chance.”

What YOU Can Do:

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.