Working cats keep the rats at bay

From the NY Times:

To Dismay of Inspectors, Prowling Cats Keep Rodents on the Run at City Delis 

"Across the city, delis and bodegas are a familiar and vital part of the streetscape, modest places where customers can pick up necessities, a container of milk, a can of soup, a loaf of bread. 

Amid the goods found in the stores, there is one thing that many owners and employees say they cannot do without: their cats. And it goes beyond cuddly companionship. These cats are workers, tireless and enthusiastic hunters of unwanted vermin, and they typically do a far better job than exterminators and poisons."

 Read the rest of the article here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/nyregion/21cats.html