The Ryders Alley Trencher-Fed Society (a.k.a R.A.T.S.) is a group who trains their dogs to hunt and kill rats on the streets of New York City. Usually found in garbage piles and parks, the dogs will find the rats using their natural hunting abilities, catch them as they try to flee, and shake the rat violently in their mouths until dead. Learn more about the group in this revealing video from VICE.
When dusk settles, Richard Reynolds and his vigilante rat hunters known as “The Ryders Alley Trencher-Fed Society” — or R.A.T.S for short — roam lower Manhattan’s streets and dumpsters, keeping their dogs’ instincts sharp and the hunting tradition alive. In the three decades Richard has been hunting rats with his dogs, he says he must have killed thousands of rats. But he doesn’t really keep track. A hunter through and through, he only counts the ones that get away.
