Washington, D.C. – The DC Council passed the “Ratnibus” on Tuesday, combining two bills to address community concerns around urban rats. Led by Councilmembers Christina Henderson (At-Large) and Janeese Lewis George (Ward 4), the bill takes measures to improve sanitation, enforcement, and data collection to assist the District’s rodent management efforts. The vote comes one year after the formation of DC Responsible Rat Management, a coalition advocating for safe and effective rat prevention strategies with the motto “prevention, not poison”.
Key elements of the bill include:
Waste Containers: Provides grants for rat-proof receptacles in commercial corridors.
Public Education: Directs government efforts to educate the public on waste sanitation and other measures that prevent rats.
Data Dashboard: Establishes a dashboard to track rat activity, treatments, and the status of abatement requests.
Enforcement: Creates financial liability for creating conditions conducive to rats that cause property damage.
Trash Can Removal: Requires notice to the Council and relevant Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner before a public litter can is removed.
Trash Compactor Grant Program: Authorizes the mayor to issue grants for businesses to lease or buy a commercial trash compactor.
In addition to combining components of B26-0707 - Rodent Education and Management Yields ("REMY") Results Amendment Act of 2026 and B26-0492 - Rodent Abatement and Transparency (RAT) Amendment Act of 2025, Councilmember Brooke Pinto (Ward 2) introduced the trash compactor component as an amendment.
The legislation reflects a growing shift toward prevention-focused rat management strategies that address the conditions that allow rat populations to thrive rather than relying primarily on poison-based control methods.
“For too long, the District has relied heavily on reactive approaches, including widespread use of rodenticides that can also harm children, pets, and wildlife,” said Max Broad, Executive Director of DC Voters for Animals. “We celebrate Councilmember Henderson and the DC Council’s efforts to create rat management that focuses on long-term, systemic solutions.”
This vote comes on the heels of a white paper released by DC Responsible Rat Management that documents widespread poisoning reports for pets and wildlife across the District. The report also identifies online reports of people using rodenticides without following instructions, spreading the poisons in the open in ways that made them accessible to unintended targets, including young children, pets, and wildlife. Earlier this week a resident of the Petworth neighborhood reported finding a deceased cat and squirrel where symptoms indicated exposure to rodenticides.
“The REMY Act is about so much more than managing the District’s rat population, it’s about creating poison-free sidewalks for dogs, safer alleyways for cats, ensuring the survival of our precious urban wildlife, and making DC cleaner and more liveable for everyone,” said Kelly Whittier, Director of Public Affairs at Humane Rescue Alliance. “Ultimately, every major city in America is looking for solutions to mitigate rats, and DC just provided a strategic roadmap that promotes the health and safety of every resident, human and animal alike.”