Like any major city, New York has a rodent infestation problem. And like many major cities, government authorities looked for every possible solution except for the obvious ones that are most effective and extremely inexpensive to implement, namely feral cats.

The NYC Feral Cat Initiative traps wild cats and then spays or neuters and vaccinates them. Then they let them loose on the rats in the city.

“We used to hire exterminators, but nature has a better solution,” said Rebecca Marshall, the sustainability manager at the 1.8-million-square-foot center. “And cats don’t cost anything.”

If the idea of using cats as natural exterminators makes sense, then it also makes sense that the government would ignore this simple solution in favor of more expensive and less effective ones. Hopefully more city governments around the world will understand the value of cats and let them do what they do best: catching and killing rodents.

To read more about how New York is relying on fella cats to kill rats, click here.