Walking around Paris, you’ve likely seen these signs near parks and gardens that say “Stop aux rats!”
Like this one that says: “Garbage left on the ground attracts rodents”
Or this one that says: “Leaving waste on the ground is expensive” and warns of a 68€ fine for littering:
It’s no surprise that Paris has a rat problem, with estimates for the number of rats ranging from 5-6 million. Anti-littering campaigns are only a small part of Paris’ solution for the rat problem. In 2017, Paris began an aggressive rat-extermination policy that relied on better public trash cans and shutting down parks to carry out exterminations.
Cracking down on the rat population in Paris isn’t new, as we can see from this scene which mentally scared beloved local chef, Remy from Ratatouille, circa 2007:
Here we can also see a similar scene traumatizing my new pet rat Jeremy, who I met at the Sewer Museum, to an equal degree:
The extremeness of the methods used to exterminate rats has raised some concerns from animal rights activists and the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo has now called for a end to those practices (also probably because of the costs involved). Many are upset by Mayor Hidalgo’s decision and can’t imagine living together with rats peacefully. To rats like Jeremy, however, this news puts them at ease and gives them hope of a better future:
