Mayor Adams’ Vitriolic Rat Rhetoric Draws PETA Empathy Kit

For Immediate Release:
May 15, 2024

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

As Mayor Eric Adams—who declared that he “hates rats” during today’s announcement that New York City will host the inaugural National Urban Rat Summit—could apparently use a lesson in showing kindness and respect for all New Yorkers, PETA is rushing him one of its Empathy Kits, which offer a step-by-step guide to cultivating compassion, along with its popular “Rats Have Rights” mug.

“Instead of trash-talking rats, Mayor Adams should focus on clearing New York’s streets of the massive heaps of garbage attracting them in the first place,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is calling on Adams to stop villainizing rats for a problem created by humans and to address this issue with respect and understanding.”

PETA points out that the adoption of better trash pickup procedures and the implementation of rat birth control—which the city is finally considering but should move quickly on—are the keys to truly solving the situation. Killing methods such as glue traps, poisons, or drowning are not only cruel to rats but also ineffective, as the decreased competition for available food sources leads to accelerated breeding among survivors—and a spike in populations. New Yorkers can help do their part by not leaving out food, keeping trash in chew-proof containers, and never buying or using cruel and ineffective wildlife-control products.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.