A little more research show that the D. C. rat law comes from one Mary Cheh, Ward 3 of D. C. City Council.

Here is more from her:

"They don't know what they're talking about," said Cheh, who was particularly critical of Cuccinelli. "Either that or he's out-and-out misrepresenting [the bill] to make a cheap point. Either way, it's pathetic."

Cheh added that her bill applies only to professional pest control outfits.

"Would these people prefer we just allowed these [businesses] to drown animals in a tub or beat them over the head with a baseball bat?" she asked. "They are so ignorant and keen to make some stupid, cheap point that they don't care what the law actually says."

Great. So private citizens can kill rats in their own houses, but pest control companies are reqiuired to humanely trap and relocate them...to Virginia?

At least that is how the law seems to be enforced.