Guardian Angels Tap Sunset Park Feral Cat Colony To Fight Rats

SUNSET PARK, NY — The red-beret wearing Guardian Angels just got a four-legged boost in membership.

The group recently started an Animal Protection program in Sunset Park that cares for feral cat colonies and puts them on purr-trol fighting rats in the neighborhood.

"Cats are a great way of keeping rat and mice populations in check; just the scent of cats increase stress levels in rodents to the point of infertility," the group wrote on their website. "This alleviates the need for rodent repellants which are highly toxic to both humans and the environment."

The anti-crime group the Guardian Angels — known for patrolling the city's subways in the 70s and 80s — partnered with Brooklynite Nancy Regula for the new Animal Protection program. Regula has been taking care of a feral cat colony in Sunset Park for 10 years.

Owners of rat-infested buildings can partner with the group to give space for feral cats to eat and drink, with Regula using felines from the Sunset Park group to help spur membership in new spots and scare off the rodents, the Brooklyn Paper reported.

"I help make it a cleaner colony concept, but [clients] are doing all the leg work," Regula told the paper.

So far, the Guardian Angels have built outdoor housing for their new four-legged members and will take care of spaying and neutering them, according to the group.

Aside from getting rats off the city streets, the group also hopes the cats will help curb violent crime as well.

Studies have shown animal abuse can be an early indicator in a person committing violent crimes in the future, with one finding 75 percent of violent offenders in prison previously hurt animals.

The Guardian Angels group will tap into children to help with "caretakers" for the colonies in an effort to teach them empathy for the cats.

"One of the earliest ways to combat the rise of crime in society against people is to stop abuse against animals," the group wrote.

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