KANSAS CITY, Mo, — Public health officials in Kansas City are running a rat race. There’s a new initiative in the Blue Hills neighborhood to help residents say goodbye to rats and the problems that come with them.
Mike Swoyer works for the Kansas City Health Department, supervising the city’s rat control program. He says the city is launching a new pilot program, offering extermination services.
Swoyer says his office gets as many as 1,100 calls per year concerning rats, many of which come from Blue Hills.
“Any part of town that’s in that area has a history of rat complaints,” Swoyer said.
Swoyer says the city is contracting with three professional pest control companies, which will go into rat infested homes and get rid of the rats. A health department spokesperson says it’s all done with public money.
“Rats have teeth that are harder than iron,” Swoyer said. “They can cut through virtually anything except for galvanized steel.”
“All of the old midtown areas where there are combined sewers, and by that, I mean sanitary sewers and storm sewers together tend to have a worse rat problem because there’s food down there in the sewer,” Swoyer said.
Swoyer says the Blue Hills Neighborhood Association reached out to the city for help. Their director denied FOX 4’s request for an interview.
Swoyer said part of the pilot program will focus on illegal dumpsites, and the rats that feed off random piles of trash people leave behind.
Alan Ashurst sees rats every day. As a code enforcement officer for the city, he seeks out illegal dump sites like the one he showed us at 50th and Brooklyn. In that instance, Ashurst said the trash was from someone’s kitchen, and a breeding ground where rats can feed and skip from the streets into people’s homes.
“There’s nothing healthy about what’s going on here, but it’s the things it attracts that makes it that much worse for people in the neighborhood,” Ashurst said.
Swoyer says people can relieve themselves of a rat problem before it even begins in many cases. It all starts with the food. If it looks the least bit edible, and rats can access it, they’ll always show up for a meal.
If you’re interested in the rat service from the city, contact the Kansas City Health Department at 816-513-6008. A health department spokesman says it’s free of charge for people who qualify.
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