Chicago using feral cats to fight rats

 Daily Caller:

An animal shelter in Chicago has released over 1,000 feral cats onto Chicago streets since 2012 to help fight the city’s rat infestation.

The Tree House Humane Society spays or neuters the cats after capturing them and then releases the cats into residential and commercial areas, according to the shelter’s website.

Chicago has been ranked number one on the “rattiest cities” list published by the pest control company Orkin for six years straight, according to WGN News.

The cats released back to the streets are part of the Tree House Human Society’s Community Cats program. Cook County passed an ordinance in 2007 that allows the shelter to create managed feral cat colonies. The cats released to kill the rats come from these Community Cat colonies.

The cats usually kill some rats once they arrive at a new location, but they usually don’t eat many rats, according to Liss. “They are actually deterring them with their pheromones. That’s enough to keep the rats away,” Liss said, WGN News reports. (RELATED: Two Cats Live Alone In $1,500 Silicon Valley Apartment)

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In rural Texas, these are called "Barn cats."   Farmers and ranchers use them to deal with vermin.  We have had a few through the years.  Texas A&M actually has a program that sells the cats.

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