Health officials in Washington, D.C., have cooked up a wacky new plan to fix the rat problem in the city. DC Health, the agency charged with maintaining public health in the nation’s capital, has announced it’s going to use birth control on the rodents. The agency said it will put edible fertility control bait in areas prone to infestation. “Yes, fantastic! If it’s good enough for humans, then it’s good enough for rats, I think. Like, why not? Get rid of them,” one resident told News4. “Anything that they can do to help limit the rats, I would probably be in favor of,” a man said. “I’ve never heard of it. I trust that the science is real. But if it is, the less rats in D.C. is a good thing.” The agency will also use lethal bait. One bait will be edible for the rats, and the other comes in powder form. Nightlife hub Adams Morgan, a hot spot for rats, is the first port of call for the new plan. “We’re gonna get the rat population down and then we’re gonna come back in three weeks to see if any of those babies survived and get them too,” DC health director Ayanna Bennett said.
Read it at NBC Washington
Read more at The Daily Beast.
