The Agricultural Department of Guangdong Province is carrying out a plan to breed cats to curb rats. In the 11 demonstration areas, each household is required to raise at least one cat.

In recent years, some areas in Guangdong have been plagued with rats which steal grains and spread diseases. "Electric cat" and artificial rat-catching methods are costly, rat poisons inadvertently cause human and domestic death, and electric netting kills frogs, fish and snakes.

Some villagers put cats in the fields, with surprisingly good results. One cat can guard two hectares of farmland. For three years running, farmers no longer suffer from rats in fields guarded by cats.