26 September 2023

City concern over growing rat packs

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The City of Sydney is set to launch an international investigation into state-of-the-art eradication measures to help it deal with a growing population of rats across the city.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said rat activity in the city had risen significantly over recent years, stirred by an unprecedented number of major construction and infrastructure projects taking place across the city area.

Cr Moore said the study followed action to double the number of rat baiting stations in City-owned public areas to 860 in response to a recent outbreak of leptospirosis.

She said the disease had been responsible for the deaths of numerous dogs across the inner city.

“Rats are a problem in every major city, but the recent rise in rat sightings and outbreak of leptospirosis have been very concerning,” Cr Moore said.

“While we monitor the effectiveness of the enhanced baiting program, we will also look to what other cities are doing and assess whether those methods are safe and suitable for Sydney.”

Cr Moore said there were more than 135 City of Sydney staff and contractors who monitored rats as part of their duties.

She said the City had written to Sydney Trains, Property NSW and the NSW Land and Housing Corporation to urge them to increase baiting and monitoring of rats on their land.

She said she was also urging residents and businesses to take care with food scraps and other waste.

“There has been a major increase in illegally dumped waste across the city and this is no doubt contributing to the problem, ” the Lord Mayor said.

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