Brooklyn dog takes on the rat war, one rodent at a time

December 24, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

A rat crosses a Times Square subway platform in New York on Jan. 27, 2015. Photo: Richard Drew/AP

Share this:

BROOKLYN — KATIE, A FOUR-LEGGED RESIDENT of Park Slope, is doing her part to get rid of the rat infestation that has plagued Brooklyn since time immemorial. Katie’s owner, Sarah Darby, adopted her from a shelter on the Texas-Mexico border, and began mapping where her adorable pup, who is part-Chihuahua and part-rat terrier, caught rats across Park Slope, according to a feature in the New York Times. In November and December of this year, the 12-and-a-half pound, four-year-old soldier caught 71 rats, according to the “Katie’s Rats” tracker; her total yearly kill count is close to 500. Darby says Katie isn’t at risk, since she does not eat the rats and gets regular vaccinations.

Most of the rats that Katie caught are from Park Slope and Gowanus, and particularly in Prospect Park. Rat sightings are up 11% in this area compared to last year, according to the Times. The Prospect Park Alliance, however, disputes the idea that rats are a problem in the park.

“I grew up on a farm with a Border collie, so I know what it looks like when a dog is doing the job that they were born to do — so alert and so alive in every molecule. And I recognized that in Katie,” Darby told the Times.