An animal shelter has been releasing feral cats onto the streets of Chicago to help combat the city’s rat problem. Chicago has been named the “rat capital” of the US for the past six years by pest control specialists Orkin. In order to tackle the problem, the animal shelter launched the ‘Cats at Work’ program. The program has released 1,000 cats onto the streets of the Windy City since 2012. The cats are rescued, neutered and vaccinated by the Tree House Humane Society. They are then placed into residential or commercial settings under the care of a registered caregiver. Having a caregiver that cares about them and wants to take care of them for the rest of their lives – it's essentially a second chance at life for these cats, Sarah Liss, Tree House Humane Society's Community Cats Program Manager. While the cats do occasionally hunt and kill rats, their presence is usually enough to repel the rodents