NYC wants to give rats birth control to curb the rodent population

New York City's city council introduced a bill to put rat contraceptives on the streets instead of poison.

It seems New York City leaders have again concluded that they can't kill enough rat lives to solve their problem, so why not try to nip the issue at the bud instead?

The metropolis' city council introduced a bill Thursday that would establish a "rat contraceptive" pilot program (yes, those two words are really right next to each other).

The program would require the state's Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene alongside Sanitation to deploy pellet-like contraceptives in two designated "rat mitigation zones," each stretching at least 10 city blocks. Then each month for a year, the DOHMH will have to inspect the areas to tally "all rat signs" and report the findings to the mayor and council speaker.

Councilmember Shaun Abreu, the bill's prime sponsor, says the "humane alternative to rodenticides" is more effective at reducing the number of rats in the city and is safer for other animals. It's a particular issue after Flaco, an owl who escaped the Central Park Zoo, died in part due to ingesting too much rat poison. 

"Flaco deserved a city that doesn't poison its own wildlife," Abreu said in a post on X announcing the legislation, which is nicknamed "Flaco's Law."