New Meaning For ‘Catch And Release’

Rats are not well-loved, to say the least – that much the majority of people can agree on. But how to control their population has long been the challenge, and not without controversy. Just last month, Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, a suburban London firm that makes D-Con, the world’s largest selling brand of rat poison, agreed to change its formula in an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The traditional formula contained a blood thinner that causes death by bleeding. But the chemical has been discovered in pets and other wildlife that either eat the corpses or the pellets. Now, Rodents Stop, a Sherman Oaks pest control company, is getting in on the game with what it’s calling its One Stop Clean-Up and Control Kit. The company’s 25 employees perform about 500 pest control visits a month in the Valley and elsewhere in Los Angeles, and the kit is essentially a do-it-yourself version of its process. The company seals buildings so the varmints can no longer enter, removes the rats inside with traps and then cleans up feces, urine and nests so the odor will not attract new infestations. The traps often kill the rats, but at the customer’s request they will trap them in a cage and release them to nature. “We don’t ever use poison,” Chief Executive David Dorfman said. “We just want to make sure they don’t get into the house, attic or crawl space.” The kit includes gloves, masks, a special vacuum for droppings, a book explaining how and where to seal the building and a spray to neutralize the smell. The company plans to sell them on the Internet starting this month at a price of $285. Dorfman expects the controversy over rat poison will heighten interest in his product. “I’ve talked to Groupon, LivingSocial and other (web) services, and they’re all interested,” he said. But Jerry Vance, a rodent specialist and owner of Discreet Pest Control in Phoenix, said do-it-yourself just doesn’t work with rodents. When cleaning up an attic, professionals wear protective suits because the droppings can reach toxic levels. And even if a homeowner moves the rats outside and seals the house, the rats will move in with the neighbors next door. “There is no do-it-yourself in this business,” he said. “If they don’t have the proper training, they’re going to fail.” Vance also noted that the industry has plenty of competition in the eco-friendly niche. But Dorfman believes the kit represents a better mouse, make that rat, trap. – Joel Russell