PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution on Thursday calling on city departments to work together to fight a rodent problem in the Lower Northeast.
Councilmember Anthony Phillips said his office has been getting complaints for more than a year about a growing number of rodents in neighborhoods such as Oxford Circle and Castor Gardens.
“We have a rat infestation. It’s a public health emergency,” he said. “I don’t know where it derived, but I know it’s still there. Cars are getting chewed up underneath, the wires; people are getting rats inside their homes.”
Phillips is not sure how it started, though the resolution cites neglected properties and improperly stored trash. Normal measures to abate the infestation are not working, he said; he believes there must be a sustained effort and possibly regulatory changes and enforcement.
“We need to have a full-fledged blitz,” he explained. “For the last year or two, I’ve been sending public health officials out to Lower Northeast, Oxford Circle, Castor Gardens to address this issue; however, nothing has been really done well.”
Vector Control is under the Department of Public Health, but Phillips’ resolution asks the health department to work with the Sanitation and Licenses and Inspections departments to resolve the problem.
The departments declined interview requests but issued a joint statement saying they look forward to strengthening cross-department efforts to combat the issue. They also reminded residents to store trash appropriately and report any rat sightings to the city.
