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These Cats Were Going To Be Put Down. Instead, They're Hunting Rats With Huge Success

March 4, 2017

With rat complaints continuing to increase year after year, the "rattiest" city in the country is trying an old-fashioned, environmentally friendly solution to solving the problem.

Chicago has implemented Treehouse Humane Society's "Cats at Work" program which places unadoptable feral cats with people/businesses in need of rodent control — and it's working beautifully for everyone.

Paul Nickerson, manager of Treehouse Humane Society, says the wait list for "rat hunters" is now down to about three months at this point.

Ultimately, Nickerson said, people should keep in mind that the program is saving cats' lives.

"These cats certainly would have been put down before, so knowing you had a hand in saving 260 little lives that would have been put down before because they don't have a home ... it just feels really good, it's really rewarding," Nickerson said. "There was a time in my life when I lived in the corporate world and was making three times the money I'm making now, but I was never fulfilled — it always came back to working with animals in some way."