Rats ‘are sensitive creatures’ and we shouldn’t kill them, animal rights group says

We shouldn’t poison rats, as they’re sensitive creatures and ‘we must learn to live with them,’ an animal rights group has claimed.

Paris Animaux Zoopolis launched an advert campaign to highlight the virtues of rats – claiming they are ‘sensitive individuals’ and ‘have feelings’.

The advert campaign on the Paris Metro comes as authorities in Paris budgeted £1.5 million to get rid of an infestation of four million rats in the French capital – with 4,950 ‘anti rat’ operations in parks and buildings.

Philippe Reigne, the group’s co-founder,said, ‘Rats should not be seen as synonymous with filth.’

Reigne claims that rats actually reduce rubbish – by eating seven kilos each during their lives.

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The group’s marketing materials urge people to ‘break the cliches’ and saying, ‘Let’s eliminate prejudices.’

The group claims that – despite being associated with the deaths of at least 75 million people during the Black Death – rats don’t carry disease.

It also claims they don’t attack people, and says that (rather than poisoning rats) people should ‘learn to live with them.

The group says, ‘We must learn to live with animals. Animals are as legitimate as we are in the city. They have no choice, because industrial agriculture destroys their natural habitat/

‘This forces many of them to take refuge in cities and especially in parks and gardens.’