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- LETTERS, Page 4"Raticide" in Boston
-
- So Boston is going to get rat expert William B. Jackson to
- eliminate the rats under the city (ENVIRONMENT, Feb. 27). This
- Pied Piper may have to deal with the state's "humaniacs." Having
- lost an attempt to hobble livestock farming in the state in '88
- and now ineffectively battling trappers and furriers, they could
- home in on this planned "raticide."
-
- Bill Fitzgerald, Chairman Massachusetts Dairy Committee
- Ashfield, Mass.
-
- I was appalled by Jackson's plan, which would kill Boston's
- rats by agonizing methods. Nature's satisfaction with these
- creatures is evident in their biological success, but human
- beings have self-righteously singled them out for every kind of
- unbearable torment. Surely science can develop a way that will
- be both efficient and humane when extermination is considered
- absolutely necessary.
-
- Yohma Gray Evanston, Ill.
-
- Rodents are common to many urban environments; however,
- Boston's is the first massive public works project that has
- aimed at preventing a rodent problem before beginning a major
- excavation. We see this as a unique opportunity to augment
- education and sanitation programs. The result: a significantly
- reduced rodent population in the next ten years and an
- unprecedented opportunity to combat a public health nuisance.
-
- William V. Twomey, Project Director Central Artery/Third
- Harbor Tunnel Project Boston
-