The New York City Department of Health hosted its Rat Academy on Monday night as a way to teach New Yorkers the steps to keep rats out of their homes and reduce how many rats are in their neighborhoods.  

The seminar kicked off in the Brooklyn Public Library, offering New Yorkers a class on everything they need to know about rats.  

According to the DOH, each household in New York City produces around 8.4 pounds of food waste each week – which can feed up to 19 rats. They say the best way to get rid of rats is to cut them of from trash, their main food supply.  

“When we leave garbage bags outside overnight or food in garbage pails that rats can access, we are delivering the food directly to the rats,” said Martha Vernazza, community coordinator for the NYC DOH.  

The DOH says they hope attendees take away three key things – keeping their area as clean as possible, maintaining their landscaping, and taking out garbage as close to pick-up time as possible.