Washington DC Is Putting Rats on Birth Control as the Numbers Spiral Out of Control

Washington DC is putting rats on birth control, and city officials are betting science can do what traps and complaints haven’t fixed.

DC Health announced a new plan to control the city’s rat population by placing edible fertility bait in areas where rodents gather the most. The agency is also using lethal bait in two forms, including something rats eat and a powder designed to kill them on contact. The strategy is already rolling out in Adams Morgan, a neighborhood long known for heavy rat activity.

For residents, the problem isn’t abstract. It’s daily.

“They be in the dumpsters. They be running in groups, like two, three — a few too many,” one man told News4, describing what he sees outside.

Another resident, Steve Riskus, said the issue goes beyond inconvenience.

“There was a dead rat in my yard a couple of weeks ago, and I had to call a friend to come over, and go in the back yard and get it for me. I can’t even look at it. It’s terrifying.”

Still, many locals are open to the city trying something new.

“Yes, fantastic! If it’s good enough for humans, then then it’s good enough for rats, I think. Like, why not? Get rid of them,” one woman said.

DC Health Director Ayanna Bennett made it clear the bait alone won’t solve everything. “We’re gonna get the rat population down, and then we’re gonna come back in three weeks to see if any of those babies survived and get them too. But, they cannot stay down if they find anything to eat.”

So while the city handles the science, officials are also calling on residents to clean up trash and report rat activity, because, as Bennett put it, access to food keeps the cycle going.