CITY HALL — Does it seem to you that there are more rats in Chicago than usual? You're not the only one.
Rat complaints are up nearly 50 percent this year — and the city is on pace to get 50,000 complaints in 2016. By comparison, there were 36,425 complaints to 311 last year.
The rat spike news comes courtesy of a proposed ordinance put forth by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Ald. Carlos-Ramirez Rosa (35th) this week calling for property owners to be responsible for cleaning up dog dirt on their lots on a daily basis.
According to the ordinance's, the city logged 32,855 rat complaints through 311 calls in 2014, 36,425 last year and is on pace for 50,000 this year.
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That came on the heels of Chicago being named the "rattiest" U.S. city two years running, in 2013 and 2014, by the Orkin pest-control company, according to the ordinance.
The Emanuel administration has already considered a rat-sterilization program. Last year's increase came in spite of a 30 percent increase in crews for rodent control proposed in the mayor's 2015 budget.
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