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BRAINTREE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — One South Shore leader has introduced a bill to get the town rat population under control using birth control.
Braintree Town Counselor Elizabeth Maglio proposed the bill after residents continued to complain about the growing rat population to town leadership.
"You'll see like ten of them running up the sidewalk," one Braintree resident told WBZ's Jim MacKay.
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Some residents said they are scared to let their dogs out at night with the rats roaming around.
"They're getting to where they're not so scared of people," one concerned Braintree woman said.
The proposal comes a year after the town of Newton launched using the first-ever rodent contraception registered with the Environmental Protection Agency to help get their rat population under control.
The contraceptive, ContraPest, interrupts the rats' gestation cycle to help stop the growth of rat colonies. The liquid birth control solution is placed into bait boxes for the rats to drink. While the contraceptive method does not work as efficiently as killing the rats, it will help lower the population over time.
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