Washington DC Launches $130,000 Pilot To Control Rat Population Using Birth Control

Troubled by rat infestation across the city, Washington DC is launching a $130,000 (Rs 1.2 crore) pilot programme where a birth control method will be used to reduce the population of mischief-making rodents. DC Health will deploy edible fertility-control bait alongside traditional lethal baits and powders. The agency informed that the initiative will kick off in the restaurant-heavy Adams Morgan neighbourhood of the US capital city, targeting areas where the rat population is most dense.

In the past, the city's sanitation officials would simply poison the rat burrows and move on. However, under the new programme, the health department will focus on one neighbourhood for three weeks, the same time it takes for a rat to get pregnant and give birth.

The health department staffers will employ two poisons that kill rats and a liquid contraceptive that can prevent pregnancy. The idea is that the adult, reproductive rodents will consume the poison that will knock down the population. Afterwards, if any survive, they will ingest the contraceptive and have no more babies.

"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 was quoted as saying by NBC Washington.

"But, they cannot stay down if they find anything to eat. So that means everybody cannot be throwing food on the ground. The mayor doesn't like it and it's helping the rats. We don't want your trash to be outside of the bin, if at all possible."

If the programme is effective in Adams Morgan, the city will move on to Barracks Row and Chinatown..

Also Read | US Woman In Labour Forced To Attend Zoom Court Hearing From Hospital Bed For Refusing C-Section

This is not the first instance when a US city has come up with a birth control method to reduce the rat population. In 2013, New York officials experimented with a contraceptive product, commonly known as “cannoli cream” because of its consistency. However, the pilot was unsuccessful as the rats would not consume it.

Joshua Goodman, a deputy commissioner at the NYC Department of Sanitation, said New York was also starting a similar pilot, albeit with liquid contraception this time.

“It's 12 years later and technology is different,” he told The Wall Street Journal. “I think it's worth testing.