Rat Killers of New York: Dogs, Volunteers Hunt Brazen Rodents

The rat catchers pick up the carcasses by their tails and deposit them in a single-strap fabric bag. Its contents will be emptied and counted at the end of the night.

"The newer members share carrying the bag," said 28-year-old Sophia Pierce. "It's heavy -- do you want to feel it?"

Pierce, a dog groomer who joined the hunts with her wirehaired dachshund Lita a year ago, is unperturbed by the slaughter.

"You just kind of get used to it. I think the people that just kind of walk up to it get more squeamish than we do," she said.

Reynolds, a dog-show judge, was in a park in New Jersey in the 1990s when his pooches started killing rats during a show there. The park attendant asked if they would come back to help, and R.A.T.S. was born.