PETA Urges Rat Contraception After Philadelphia Council Declares Rodent Emergency in Lower Northeast
Philadelphia is a city in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania (a consolidated city-county). FOX 29 reported on October 16 that PETA sent a letter on Wednesday to Mayor Cherelle Parker urging the city to deploy a rodent contraceptive, ContraPest, to curb Philadelphia's rat population instead of traditional extermination methods.
The letter followed the City Council's adoption of a resolution declaring the rat population in the Lower Northeast section of Philadelphia a public health and quality-of-life emergency. PETA cited programs in Baltimore, Chicago and New York that have used the contraceptive to limit rats' reproduction; in Baltimore the program began as a pilot and is not used citywide, according to PETA.
A study by pest-control company Terminex ranked Philadelphia the third 'rattiest' city in the country, behind New York City and Los Angeles, based on the number of rat-related service calls. Officials say a city's size and the availability of food for rats are two major contributors to the problem.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：费城独立厅实景。图片来源：Mys 721tx，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0。Photo: 费城独立厅实景. Image: Mys 721tx, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
