I know that there is a cultural dislike for dogs in the region, but I am unsure if it is due to Muslim dogma or is cultural. If it is cultural, it could be that Arabs "don't like dogs" and perhaps Persians/Iranians don't mind them. If it is Islamic doctrine, then both cultures would find dogs to be "unacceptable". I confess that is my ignorance as to the details, someone who knows is welcome to correct, clarify or enlighten me. The news article states that these rats are large enough that "cats are afraid of them". To me, the simple solution is to then let dogs do what dogs do well (as shown by the video above). But if there is a cultural/religious taboo or prejudice against dogs, then that is unlikely. Which would be a case of "history repeating itself". The Black Death (Bubonic plague) was so deadly in Middle Age Europe due to the fact that the rat population (the carrier/vector for the fleas which carried the disease) was so high because the common dogma/belief was that "cats are familiars of the devil and witches" and so cats were killed on sight. And so, with fewer cats, more rats, more fleas, more disease. If there is a taboo against dogs in this city, country, region, then it is possible that the rats are adapting to a lack of a particular predator and their population is blooming as a result.