PETA calls out NYC for targeting rats, says city's filth is a ‘human problem’
PETA Director of Outreach Ashley Byrne reacts to NYC Mayor Eric Adams hiring a rat czar
PETA is "not impressed" with New York City Mayor Eric Adams' move to bring in a "rat czar" to help curb The Big Apple's rodent population boom and is urging the newly-installed "bloodthirsty rat-hater" to look at the human culprit behind the mountains of trash polluting the streets.
"All you have to do is walk down the street to see that we don't have a rat problem, we have a filthy human behavior problem," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Director of Outreach Ashley Byrne said Tuesday on "Fox & Friends First."
"We are living under mountains of garbage in this city," she continued. "As long as that's the case, the rats will still keep coming no matter how many bodies the city piles up."
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The logo of the international non-governmental animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is pictured in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on May 13, 2022. (YANN SCHREIBER/AFP via Getty Images)
The group, in a statement published Monday, wrote that waging war on rodents "attacks the problem from the wrong end," and continued by saying that rats – which are "sensitive, compassionate, and intelligent animals" – are simply "following humans' lead."
"Why employ a rat czar to waste taxypayers' money by trying to treat a symptom when we know how to solve the problem of improper waste management?" the post asked.
The city posted a job opening for the "rat czar" in December, outlining its wish for a candidate with "a virulent vehemence for vermin," a killer instinct needed to fight the real enemy," and a "somewhat bloodthirsty" attitude.
Last week Adams introduced former elementary school teacher and anti-rat activist Kathleen Corradi as the city's first director of rodent mitigation.
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A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Byrne called the rat-curbing rhetoric "political theater" that aims to distract from the lack of "long-term solutions" provided by the mayor's office.
"New Yorkers deserve better and so do animals," she added.
Another proposed solution Byrne supports, noting it could have long-term benefits for all involved parties, is rat birth control. She said the birth control method would not only help curb future generations of rodents, but would do so in a humane way.
She also said that rat birth control would prevent other animals – including household pets – from ingesting dangerous poisons strewn around for rodent consumption.
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams introducing Kathleen Corradi, center, as the city's first "rat czar." (AP Photo/Bobby Caina Calvan)
"It's something we have implemented effectively in PETA's buildings," she explained. "Rat birth control is safe and humane, and it's effective long-term. It's not a quick fix that just isn't going to work."
PETA says the city's proposed solution, particularly the job advert's hyperbolic language, distracts from larger, overarching issues such as homelessness and crime that have made the city less hospitable.
Byrne said the move was an "effective" distraction, pointing to the "cartoonish" language used to reel people in, and reiterated that city officials have yet to address the core issue driving the population boom.
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Rat sightings in New York City have spiked in recent years, with a report released last fall noting the number of sightings has increased 70% compared to two years before. Adams has described rats as "public enemy number one," and City Council voted on a rat action plan in October to tackle the problem systematically.
Fox News' Jon Brown contributed to this report.
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