CITY HALL — The number of complaints about rats in the city has soared compared with the first two months of 2014 and 2015, but officials insist they're ready to meet the challenge.
The city fielded 4,021 requests for rat baiting in January and February of this year, according to information from the city's Data Portal compiled by the office of Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), who has sponsored a rat-control ordinance calling for homeowners to keep their yards free of pet waste.
According to Ramirez-Rosa's office, rat complaints typically rise as the weather improves and rats are seen out and about more, and the data reflect that. The city registered 1,343 rat complaints the first two months of 2014, on the way to a total of 32,855, and 2,246 the first two months of last year, on the way to 36,425 for the full year.
That indicates that the ordinance's estimate that the city is "on pace" for 50,000 complaints this year might actually be an understatement if the trends hold.
But Jen Martinez, spokeswoman for the Department of Streets and Sanitation, which typically handles rat extermination, said the Emanuel administration is pushing ahead with advances designed to respond to every request for rat baiting within five days.
"We value complaints," Martinez said. "We encourage everyone to call 311."
The decision to shift Streets & Sanitation crews to rat patrol, especially as the weather warms, grows out of an initiative in Mayor Rahm Emanuel's budget for last year. In addition, Martinez said, "We're using analytics to do a lot more preventive baiting," such as near construction sites, which typically scare up rats.
Yet she said the proposal from Emanuel and Ramirez-Rosa for property owners to police their own lots and keep them clear of pet waste would be a valuable additional tool.
"Don't feed the rats," Martinez said. "Rats are gonna go where there's food."
According to Martinez, pet excrement is the "rodents' No. 1 food source, and people don't even realize it."
Martinez also advised homeowners to keep their weeds trimmed, as they can provide cover and sometimes food to rats. She said Streets & San crews would be out enforcing city ordinances on weeding and pet waste, although she added, "Our thing has always been to work with residents," so that a word of warning often serves the same purpose as a ticket, at less cost to homeowners.
The city is also hoping that the mild winter has brought rats out of their winter dens sooner than normal. Combined with the move to encourage residents to file complaints, that could mean reports might be up, even as the actual number of rats in the city might not be.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
