NEW YORK—In the last two years, the city’s complaint hotline has received a record of more than 48,000 calls reporting rat sightings. But fear not—a diverse group of New Yorkers has found a natural way to combat the disease-laden rodents. Instead of rat poison, they let loose a pack of furry terriers into New York City alleyways.
A terrier smells a rat and leaps into a heap of garbage. A second terrier runs and dives in too. A rat scrambles out. A third terrier catches the rat and bites. The rat’s limp body falls to the ground. The dog owner picks up the dead rat with gloves and drops it into a garbage can.
This appears to be a natural solution since rat-hunting is what terriers do best.
Tourists and terrier-fanatics from Australia, New Zealand, and Egypt have joined them on their excursions too. “We get some visiting dignitaries,” Reynolds said.
Some worry about the dogs’ health, but Reynolds emphasized that the group has not encountered a sick dog in the last 20 years. “They’re challenged by exposure to disease and they develop an immunity to it,” he said.
When asked how many rats his group has killed over the last 20 years, Reynolds guffawed. “I haven’t got the foggiest idea!” he said.
The group’s end goal isn’t necessarily to eradicate the rat population, but to preserve working terrier breeds.
“We don’t keep track of what we kill,” Reynolds said. “We’re not out there to kill rats. It’s all about the dogs.”
The catch varies depending on the experience of the dogs. During each outing, they try to bring along a new dog to train.
In the last 20 years, there’s only been one night when they killed no rats. On the best nights, they have killed 70 rats, although those are rare.
“We don’t kill enough to have any profound effect on the rat population in New York,” Reynolds said. “But it’s had an impact on the given areas that we hunt.”
The group has cut back on rat populations in the Theater Alley, Riders Alley, and other nooks in Lower Manhattan.
R.A.T.S. is always looking for new places to hunt and encourages New York and New Jersey residents who have a rat problem to contact them through Facebook or email.
They don’t charge a penny, and always send a representative to scout the location.
They prefer to hunt in alleys, courtyards, or less traveled streets. “The safety of dogs is our primary concern,” Reynolds said.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of the article incorrectly stated that one of the dog owners’ profession was an antique curator. He is a curator of antiquities. Epoch Times regrets the error.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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