Boozy Rat Death Traps Infuriate Animal Rights Activists

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Boozy dead rat soup has landed Brooklyn's borough president in hot water with animal activists who say his plan to exterminate the animals is grotesque and inhumane.

Animal rights organizations representing about 60,000 New Yorkers united against Eric Adams after he scooped dead rats out of an alcohol-based rat trap during a live demonstration in Brooklyn Borough Hall Thursday afternoon.

"I was horrified, there were just no words to describe it," said Allie Feldman Taylor, board member of Voters For Animal Rights. "To see this was really like a punch in the gut."

In a letter addressed to the Borough President Monday, leaders from about 14 animal activist organizations demanded he drop his plan to install the $300-a-month Rat Trap devices in Bed-Stuy, city public housing complexes, and to pitch the plan to the city's Department of Sanitation and City Council.

Adams, who did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment, argued Thursday that the drowning traps were the most effective solution to Brooklyn's rampant rodent problem and caught more than 100 rats in Borough Hall in just 40 days.

But the groups — which include Voters for Animal Rights, NYCLASS, W.I.L.D. for Prospect Park and Mitigation Works — argue both that the rat traps are cruel and they won't really work.

"Presenting killing rats as the solution is selling a false hope," said David Karopkin, a fellow board member. "I guarantee you it will not solve anyone's problems."

The problem is that rats are both intelligent and empathetic, the groups argued in their letter, and pointed to a study that found rats would rather save a friend's life than be given chocolate as proof.

"Rats live emotionally rich lives," the advocates wrote, adding that traps seldom work for long.

"They are highly intelligent and skilled in logic," the letter reads. "They learn to avoid traps and dangerous spaces."

Instead, the advocates recommend sterilization to control rat populations, a technique which Karopkin said has been adopted by Washington D.C. and in farms across the state and could prove more successful than traps, despite what Adams said at his press conference.

"My jaw dropped," said Karopkin. "To have the conclusion that it's not an effective approach really begs the question, 'What are you talking about?'"

The animal activists also recommend addressing the root problems driving rats out of their burrows and into city streets and homes: rampant construction and poor sanitation.

"So long as garbage and litter are common sights in New York City, it is foolhardy to think rats will not be," the advocates wrote.

Feldman Taylor said the only response the advocates have received from Borough Hall were form letters and a generic email blast from Adams' Mayoral fund raising campaign that cites the rat drowning plan as a reason to support him.

"He's a vegan ... but what he needs to know is you really need to walk the walk," Feldman Taylor said. "Animal advocates aren't going to blindly follow you because of your diet."

The groups plan to send an email blast of their own and call on their supporters to petition Adam to put an end to the rat drowning plan.

"He holds up this bucket full of a dozen dead rats and says, 'Here I solved the problem?'" Feldman Taylor said. "We need to let our supporters know that."

Update: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams responded to Patch's request for comment with the following statement:

"A year and half ago, we held a rat summit at Borough Hall. 200 people attended and spoke about how they are tired of rats terrorizing their communities. I promised to find innovative ways to address the crisis. Government must live up to its commitments. While we embrace fast-tracking research on alternative rat mitigation measures such as sterilization, human lives - including children and the elderly - are at risk and we need a more effective approach to addressing this exploding infestation."