2023-06-10 21:16:39
NNot every Parisian rat has the cute face and culinary sophistication of Remy from the Disney animated classic Ratatouille. Actually none at all. On the contrary, they spread epidemics, are aggressive – and generally represent a major shortcoming in Parisian savoir-vivre. Because, despite their nocturnal activity, the gray furry animals are more and more frequently found in the streets, parks and on the Seine during the day, attracted by the rubbish of the masses of tourists. encounter shore.
The city spends around 1.5 million euros every year on combating them. There are even calls for a “de-rattification” every spring. And yet the rodents keep on multiplying: The city has had a total of eight million inhabitants for several years – two million people and (estimated) six million rats. Clear majority for the rodents.
The rats seem to have gotten used to humans. And vice versa? After years of unsuccessful efforts to combat the rat – for example, poisoned baits were laid out, airtight garbage cans set up and sewers sealed as part of the 2017 anti-rat plan – a different, more peaceful path is now to be taken: the government of the mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Thursday at a meeting of the Paris City Council that they wanted to try to live better with the rats in the future.
Anne Souryis, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of public health, announced the creation of a committee to study whether and how humans and fur animals can become friends. An approach should be found that is as efficient as possible and at the same time tolerable for the Parisians.
The politician also tweeted that the Paris rats did not pose a “significant” risk to public health. She added that she also consulted the High Council on Public Health to intervene in the debate. “We need scientific advice, not political press releases,” she said.
“Welcome to the Absurd”
The committee was created in response to calls from Geoffroy Boulard, mayor of the 17th arrondissement of Paris and member of the centre-right Republican party, for a more ambitious plan to combat rats in public spaces. Boulard had criticized Mayor Hidalgo, a member of the centre-left socialist party, for not doing enough to stop rats in Paris – including during this year’s pension reform strikes that have seen garbage piled up across the city.
“The presence of rats is detrimental to the quality of life for Parisians,” Boulard said. Following Souryis’ announcement, he tweeted: “Hidalgo’s team never disappoints”. He also expressed his disbelief at the overly lenient approach to the rodent problem: “Paris deserves better.” In one another tweet he said to the new step: “Welcome to the absurdity”.
Animal welfare organizations like Paris Animals Zoopolis have welcomed the city’s commitment to treating the rat population more kindly. “Rats are present in Paris, as in all major French cities, so the question of coexistence inevitably arises,” the group said in a statement. The current methods are ineffective and cruel, they tweeted. “We support alternatives other than pest control.”
#Rethinking #deal #plague #rats