Manhattan rat hunt

Dog owners gather in Manhattan side streets for the New York rat hunt

Dog owners in are New York gathering to hunt and kill rats found in garbage piles on side streets and alleys. The meets are intended to keep down the rodent population.

A group of dog owners gather in a lower Manhattan park before a hunt for rats

Susan Friedenberg of New York takes a rat from Tanner, her border terrier, that caught the rodent

A dog named Paco, owned by Bill Reyna of Wayne, N.J., centre, and a wire haired Dachshund named Vina, owned by Trudy Kawami of New York, corner a rat as they and other dog owners gather to let their various breeds hunt rats in New York

A wire haired Dachshund named Vina, owned by Trudy Kawami of New York, carries a rat after catching it in a lower Manhattan alley in New York

A dog named Paco, owned by Bill Reyna of Wayne, N.J., sniffs a dead rat in a lower Manhattan alley in New York

A number of rats are displayed in a lower Manhattan alley, caught and killed by small hunting dogs as a group of dog owners gather to let their various breeds hunt rats in New York

Richard Reynolds, centre, and other dog owners explain their activity to a passerby who was walking through a alley where the dog owners gathered