PETA activists said that New York City residents need to change their garbage habits to spare the killings of the city’s “sensitive“ rats.
“I don’t think any of us want to see the city filled with rats the way it is right now and that includes PETA and other people who care about animals,” PETA’s communications director Ashley Byrne, a 13-year Brooklyn resident, told The New York Post on Thursday. (RELATED: ‘I’ll Tell Them Where To Stick It’: NYC Shames Litterers In New Ad Campaign)
PETA wants NYC garbage control to thin rat herd rather than massive rodent kills https://t.co/sIAJ3PA29T pic.twitter.com/BgQRHf39Xr
— New York Post (@nypost) April 16, 2023
“The rats you see on the streets are still sensitive, intelligent animals and they deserve better than to be killed in gruesome, painful ways,” she added.
Byrne added that the animals are “here through no fault of their own,” that they should not be referred to as pests, and that the city needs to cut off their source of food from garbage.
“As long as the garbage is there and unchecked the rats will be there,” Byrne told The Post. “We have a disgusting human behavior problem, not a rat problem.”
Adams announced Wednesday that he appointed Kathleen Corradi to be New York City’s “rat czar.” The job description, which has since been taken down, requires “a general aura of badassery.”
“New York City has done a lot recently when it comes to fighting public enemy number one: rats,” Adams said Wednesday. “But it was clear we needed someone solely focused on leading our rat reduction efforts across all five boroughs.”