A NEED to rid the market of rodents has pushed Baguio City to call for an unusual contest.
Launched on Tuesday, March 31, the public market “Rat Catching Challenge” was rolled out, vetting those with the greatest number of rodents caught in a month, to a cash prize of P20,000.
Baguio Market Supervisor Fernando Ragma said it is the first time the government has taken the drive to clean the market with this avenue.
Ragma said it was visits by Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong to the market alleys after lockdown that showed the infestation of rats and pushed the chief executive to create a contest with a hefty cash prize.
Loot of P20,000 awaits the market section which yields the most rats at the end of the month while P10,000 goes to the market section with the second greatest number of rodents caught.
Ragma clarified the apprehended rats will be collected by the City Veterinary Office at the end of each day and disposed of in accordance to sanitation and animal welfare act guidelines.
The market is divided into section with 3,900 stores.
Each section is provided a receptacle to place the rats caught and then inventoried to have the official count at the end of each day.
Ragma said the market officials will be overseeing the inventory of the rodents to make sure the count as well as the origin of the rats are from the market.
If any section is caught submitting rats not to be from the market, deductions will be imposed on total points of the market section’s tally of caught rodents.
The market supervisor said if poison is used on rats, then the danger of canals being flooded with the dead pests can pose as a heavier sanitation problem in the long run.
On the first day of the contest, a total of 131 rats were caught and later collected by the City Veterinarians Office to be properly disposed.