If I Were the NYC Rat Czar
Unleash the cats!
New York City has a rat problem of epic proportions, with an estimated 2 million rats scurrying through New York City’s streets. That includes those in and around Mayor Eric Adams’ Brooklyn home. To address the perpetual problem, Mayor Adams recently announced that he filled the New York City Rat Czar position. There were thousands of applicants for the new role, which reportedly pays up to $170,000 annually.
It’s a daunting task. Many experts predict the new NYC Rat Czar will fail. Rats have existed for over 200,000 years. They have survived plagues, natural disasters, and numerous human attempts to exterminate them. So what should the new Rat Czar do?
If I were the NYC Rat Czar, I would take a classical approach. Feral cats. In neighborhoods or on streets with rat problems I would create feral cat colonies to hunt, eliminate, and deter rodents. It’s not the perfect solution. Below are some of the challenges and risks with taking this approach.
But anecdotally speaking, on my recent trip to Bulgaria I saw numerous cats wandering the streets, from Burgas to Sofia.
Do you know what I didn’t see? Rats or mice.
Many countries have unleashed the cats to combat rodents
I’m not sure if Bulgaria uses cats as a formal means of rodent control, but many other cities and countries have. Even Curtis Sliwa, who ran against Eric Adams for New York City Mayor, suggested that a cat colony could solve Mayor Adams’ personal rat problem. But if you’re still skeptical, take a look at the evidence:
Houtong, Taiwan - the cat population in this town has been so successful in controlling its rat population that it’s become a popular tourist destination for cat lovers.
Chicago, USA - once considered America’s rattiest city, their “Cats at Work” initiative uses feral cats to control rodent populations in public spaces. Although the cats have not been found to eat rats, they occasionally kill them, but most importantly, deter them from appearing and finding new food sources.
Mumbai, India - the Feline Foundation is an animal welfare NGO in Mumbai that aims to improve the lives of stray cats. They have used these strays, in part, to control the rat populations in the city’s slums. The program has been successful in reducing the numbers of rats in slums, but has also received criticism for displacing the city’s native bird population.
Beijing, China - approximately 200 cats live in Beijing’s Forbidden City to keep some of China’s greatest cultural relics rat free. In addition, there’s fossil evidence that some 5,300 years ago cats were used by Chinese villages to actively hunt rats and protect grain stockpiles.
These are only some of the examples of cities around the world using cats as active and preventative controls against rats and other rodent populations. Other cities like Lisbon, Portugal are currently implementing them.
So why shouldn’t the NYC Rat Czar implement similar measures as former mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa suggested? As with many solutions, there are risks and challenges with unleashing cats to fight rodents.
A cat policy brings challenges and risks for the NYC Rat Czar
The primary challenges and risks include the following:
Nuisance - Some people hate cats. Others may not want to be living or simply walking in an active war zone where cats battle rats. There are also overpopulation risks given that one female cat may have three to four litters per year and produce over 100 new cats over its lifetime. Most people probably don’t want their city streets filled with stray feral cats.
Disease and excrement - cat feces can carry parasites like toxoplasmosis, which can infect humans who come into contact with the excrement. The NYC Rat Czar would probably need teams of workers to clean up the manure, in addition to a vaccine program to make sure the cats are reasonably healthy and disease free.
Detrimental to native species - some argue that large cat populations can detrimentally affect native bird populations. Their presence could displace migratory birds and hurt the population of other species.
Despite the risks, the NYC Rat Czar should give cats a try
Given the seriousness of New York City’s rat problem, all options should be on the table. Cats offer a green alternative to pesticides, poisons, and other chemical approaches that could be very harmful to humans. Before addressing how the risks above could be mitigated, let’s address efficacy.
One New York City study in particular argued that cats are ineffective at combating rat populations. There’s an overlooked problem with this study, however. Namely, it was a limited sample size, in a specific location (a Brooklyn warehouse), and only involved a handful of cats.
If the NYC Rat Czar were to take a data-driven approach that targeted the most problematic “ratty” areas of the city with feral cat colonies, we would have a much more comprehensive understanding of a cat’s effectiveness at taking down New York City rats. And maybe the NYC Rat Czar would have to find bobcat-sized feral cats to take down the city’s behemoth rodents. But we can’t reach a definitive conclusion on efficacy until a broader effort is made to control the New York City rodent population with cats.
Although perhaps the rats would just move elsewhere. In most cases, including those mentioned above from other countries, cats appear to be more effective deterrents than rat killers. Is that so bad though?
By taking a multi-pronged approach, the NYC Rat Czar could use cats as the first line of defense against rats. They could isolate the vermin, force them into specific locations, and use other non-cat measures to exterminate them. The city streets may have a few more felines, but is that not a better alternative to dirty rodents?
To mitigate the aforementioned risks the NYC Rat Czar would need to take the following measures (at least):
Limit feral cat colonies to specific “ratty” areas. This will keep cats confined to targeted areas, and not let them roam all parts of the city.
Implement neutering and vaccination programs to control cat population and disease.
Schedule routine manure and cleaning pick-up to reduce excrement on city streets.
Keep cats away from sensitive areas with migratory birds or other species, or take alternative measures in those areas to combat rat populations.
A cat-centric approach to deterring and exterminating rats in New York City may not be perfect. It may not be a silver bullet solution for a city that has been run by rats for centuries. But it would be a fresh approach that has succeeded elsewhere. With a multi-pronged strategy that puts cats at the forefront, rats may finally be driven from the five boroughs or at least controlled.
So if I were the NYC Rat Czar, I would do one thing first. Unleash the cats on those pesky rats.
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