Nairobi city dog and cats with rare skills guard Bahati coop against giant killer rat

By James Mwangi

NAIROBI, KENYA: A dog and two cats have been trained to perfectly guard poultry against huge rodents in Bahati estate. 

After losing their fowls to giant rats, farmers have trained a dog and two cats to co-exist with the birds and attack the rats whenever they strike at night.

Anthony Mwangi, a representative of the farmers’ group, called Msalacity, said in the past they would find dead or bitten chicken, ducks, geese and turkeys.

They decided to find a biological remedy to the rodent menace.

They found cats and a dog they trained not to prey on the poultry but love the readily available meal of giant rats.

During daytime, the dog, cats and birds interact freely inside a cage and at night, the pets turn into guards.

The ‘watch-animals’ have been trained for months not to touch eggs or chicks but accept them as part of the “extended family”.

“They have bonded well with the poultry and interestingly, the cats now avoid humans,” Mwangi said.

According to Msalacity, the numbers of the giant rats have dwindles since they introduced the cats and the dog to the coops.

The killer rodents are believed to be the African giant rats, sometimes called pouched rats.

The grow to about three-foot, have teeth that are over an inch long and are sometimes said to be dangerous even to humans.

In 2011, it was reported that the gigantic rats attacked and fed on the flesh of children in South Africa.

Scientists have however said they can be tamed to become pets.