Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: City Rejects Rat Birth Control and Names Its First Rat Abatement Manager

Philadelphia health officials have turned down a proposal to give the city's rats birth control, saying there is no evidence the approach reduces their numbers.

In a letter to the mayor and City Council, PETA proposed fertility control products that would make the rodents infertile and keep them from getting pregnant, according to an Action News 6abc report. Jakob Shaw, PETA manager of strategic initiatives, pointed to Baltimore in a statement to 6abc. "The city of Baltimore's Department of Public Works reported this year that the pilot with rodent fertility control products was so successful that it's being expanded citywide," Shaw said.

Shaw also told The Cool Down that the city's first priority should be its streets. "As long as people are leaving garbage to rot in alleyways and city streets, we're basically just rolling out the red carpet for rats," he said.

The Health Department answer

The Health Department declined an interview and answered in a written statement. "The Health Department does not use birth control as part of our vector control activities and has no plans to. Simply put, there's no research to show that it works to lower rat populations. On the other hand, there is oodles of research showing that IPM, or integrated pest management, works to reduce rat populations in both the short- and long-term," the department said. In integrated pest management, the department works with residents to cut off the food and water supply, harborage and hiding places that rats need, which it said naturally reduces their numbers over time.

PETA first made the pitch in a letter to Mayor Cherelle Parker in mid-October, proposing contraception in place of rat poison and traps, the Lehigh Daily reported. The letter landed a week after City Council adopted a resolution on October 8 urging city officials to treat the rodent infestation in the Lower Northeast as an urgent public health and quality-of-life emergency. Residents of Oxford Circle and Castor Gardens have reported rodents in homes, yards, businesses and vehicles, the resolution says.

Erica Sanchez, owner of Roman Shield Pest Control, told 6abc that the rat problem is getting worse in the city, particularly in Northeast Philadelphia.

A first rat manager, and a dashboard

At the end of October, the city named Adrian Jordan as Philadelphia's first rat abatement manager. Jordan was the Health Department vector control crew chief and has fought rats in the city for more than twenty years, PhillyVoice reported. "I've worked to fight rats in Philadelphia for more than twenty years, and I am looking forward to being able to work directly with colleagues from departments across the city to ensure that we are properly prioritizing this," Jordan said in a statement.

Jordan and a team of health inspectors will run door-to-door surveys in the parts of the city hit hardest, starting in the lower Northeast, including Oxford Circle and Castor Gardens, to measure the problem and advise residents on how to repel rats. The Parker administration said it had found no evidence of a spike in confirmed rat complaints, and appointed Jordan to show its ongoing commitment to a public health issue that affects every city in the world.

The city also plans to launch a dashboard that will track resident contacts, complaints and properties serviced, and says the resource will be on the city's website shortly. While the new effort gets going, officials urge residents to keep garbage in metal trash cans with tight lids, seal openings around doors and windows, and call 215-685-9000 if they spot a rodent.