Rats are victims of PREJUDICE! says Paris councilor on rodents in France’s City of Light

Parisian councilwoman Douchka Markovic declared that the city's large rat population is a "victim of prejudice" and said the animal's name should be changed to prevent people from killing them.

Markovic, a supporter of mayor Anne Hidalgo who is also the co-chair of France’s Animalist Party, noted at a council meeting that the term 'rat' encourages violence.

"I prefer to call them surmulots (which translates as 'oversized field mouse') as it has less negative connotations," the official added in response to center-right councilman Paul Hatte while discussing the need for greater pest control and extermination efforts.

Markovic, in charge of overseeing animal welfare in the French capital's 18th arrondissement, noted that rats have become a "natural sewer cleaner" and must be contained in an ethical and non-lethal manner.

"[They are] our waste control assistants. First of all, we must point out the role that animals play in the day-to-day running of the sewers, with the evacuation of several hundred tons of waste and the unclogging of pipes," the councilwoman insisted.

Both officials at the meeting and users on social networks scoffed at Markovic's proposal.

"To avoid any stigmatizing discrimination, the movie Ratatouille will be renamed Surmulotatouille," wrote one netizen.

A 2019 study revealed that there are almost twice as many rats in Paris as people.

For its part, France's National Academy of Medicine said the growing number of rats is a "threat to human health due to the numerous diseases they transmit through parasites, excrement, bites and scratches."

Paris is the fourth most rat-infested city in the world, according to the specialized site Topito.