On Oct. 1, New York greenlit the idea to use rat birth control. This sparked a big debate about the morality of rat birth control.

So why don’t they use rat poison instead? Flaco, the beloved owl of New York, died a year earlier of rat poisoning after ingesting a rat that ate rat poison. The entire project had been passed because of Flaco.

Because of Flaco’s untimely death, Shaun Abreu wanted to find a more humane way to stop the continuously growing population of rats. Abreu worked with ContraPest to stop the infestation in a less harmful way with rat birth control. 

However, more needs to be done in order to fix the rat infestation. Abreu continued to go on by saying that the people of New York must keep their food in containers to make sure that the rats eat the birth control pills that are left out for them.

Even though there are solutions to stop the overpopulation, it can’t be done without people playing their part in keeping the city safe and rat-free. Even though Flaco’s death saddened many, it helped people realize what a problem the rats are becoming.

However, others are saddened by the rat birth control due to the fact that some rats have been growing in popularity. 

Rats like “Pizza Rat,” who were shown in a video where they were bringing a piece of pizza down a flight of stairs, were loved by the people of New York. In fact, even the Staten Island Yankees were rebranded as the Staten Island Pizza Rats by selling Pizza Rat merchandise.

Because of the Pizza Rat craze, some people thought this was inhumane. With rat birth control, they can’t repopulate, and rats like Pizza Rat won’t happen again.

So in the end, the question is: Is rat birth control humane?