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  • 30
    Apr
    2013
    11:26am, EDT

    I smell a rat: New York City dogs hunt hated rodents

    Craig Ruttle / AP

    Susan Friedenberg of New York takes a rat from Tanner, her border terrier, in lower Manhattan on April 26.

    By Jennifer Peltz of The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — Bodies tense and noses twitching, the dogs sniff the fertile hunting ground before them: a lower Manhattan alley, grimy, dim and perfect for rats. With a terse command — "Now!" — the chase is on.

    Known with a chuckle as the Ryders Alley Trencher-fed Society — parse the acronym — the rodent-hunters have been scouring downtown byways for more than a decade, meeting weekly when weather allows. Read full story

     

    Craig Ruttle / AP

    A group of dog owners gather in a lower Manhattan park April 26 before a hunt for rats that takes their various breeds into New York City alleys. Participants say the hunts are less about killing rats than giving dogs the experience of chasing them.

    Craig Ruttle / AP

    A dog named Paco, owned by Bill Reyna of Wayne, N.J., looks over a dead rat in a lower Manhattan alley on April 26.

    Craig Ruttle / AP

    A wire-haired dachshund named Vina, owned by Trudy Kawami of New York, carries a rat after catching it in a lower Manhattan alley on April 26.

    Craig Ruttle / AP

    A number of rats are displayed in a lower Manhattan alley, caught and killed by small hunting dogs, on April 26.

    Previously on PhotoBlog:

    • Putin and his pooches frolic in the snow
    • Blind sled dog thrives with brother's help
    • Puppy refuses to leave his dead mother's side following ethnic violence in Myanmar

    Follow @NBCNewsPictures

    10 comments

    This is what these small breeds were developed for in the 1200s/1300s because the, Civilized religious Society at that time killed all of the reptiles [EVIL Satanistic Creatures who seduced Eve] which were keeping rodent populations under control. When they killed the reptiles it brought on over-pop …

    Show more
    Explore related topics: animal, hunting, new-jersey, rat, new-york-city, us-news, featured, vermin
  • 11
    Jan
    2012
    12:13pm, EST

    New York subway workers run 'Rate My Rat' photo contest

    Brendan McDermid / Reuters

    A photo of a rat is displayed on the "Rate my Rat" section of the website www.ratfreesubways.com.

    Reuters reports from NEW YORK: 

    Subway workers angered over what they say is a rat infestation in their workplace are holding a photo contest for the "nastiest" shot of a rodent, with a grand prize of a monthly transit pass.

    Commuters who see rats on subway platforms and tracks are urged to upload photos to www.ratfreesubways.com, created by the Transport Workers Union Local 100, New York City's largest transit union.

    The union is calling for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to clean stations more regularly, place more trash cans on subway platforms, and repair holes in walls and floors. Read the full story.


     

    www.ratfreesubways.com

    Left: Rat in a trash can. 138th St 3rd Av IRT 6.
    Center: Atlantic Terminal. Manhattan-bound N/D platform.
    Right: 7th Avenue.

    Some of the tamer pictures uploaded to the rats' rogue gallery are reproduced above. If you'd like to see some much nastier images -- and help to rate the rodents on a sliding scale from "Handsome" through to "Beastly" -- here's the link.

    24 comments

    It seems to me that this problem might be diffused it human beings didn't throw their crap to the ground. UGH! I don't know which is nastier---rats or human litter on our planet.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: new-york, subway, rat, us-news, rate-my-rat

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