Mayor Brian Arrigo addresses rat issue in the City of Revere

This week, I announced that the City has retained four private vendors to begin an assessment of the city's rat problem. This is the first step of an extended process that can only be successful if we have cooperation from every resident in the city.
Property owners must understand three fundamental points: First, a rodent control program requires the public's full cooperation. Second, this a first phase of what will be a long term approach. Third, there is no simple solution.
Rat problems exist in cities throughout Greater Boston. Rats live underground and in sewer lines, colonize in nests and maintain their own territories. Individual rats typically remain within a 150-foot radius of their nest.
The first and most important step is sanitation, and everyone must join in the fight.
During coming months, the City will distribute to every household in the City a rodent-proof, 65-gallon covered trash barrel. This barrel will be required for municipal trash collection. Failure to use the barrels will result in fines.
The City will authorize rodent control measures on public property, but the city and contracted vendors will require signed authorizations from property owners or managers to access private property and begin the inspection and control process. Residents who report rat activity will be contacted by a representative of the City and a rodent control company regarding authorization onto private property.
Rats flourish in our neighborhoods because their demand for food, water, and shelter is being met. In other words, inadvertently, we are treating rats like pets rather than predators. Overfilled barrels or dumpsters, trash stored in flimsy plastic bags, or trash placed in uncovered containers, are a virtual buffet table for a rat.
If your property, especially the area around your dumpster or trash storage, is unclean, if you are careless in the way you store and place your trash for collection, you are setting out a welcome mat for rats.
Water also invites rats. Property owners should take steps to prevent against water pooling under air conditioners or gutters and downspouts.

Rats seek shelter and can squeeze through holes as small as one-half inch in diameter into a structure. Property owners must take every effort to seal potential entry points into their homes or garages or sheds with metal mesh, concrete or durable sealants.
Overgrown weeds and shrubbery also serve as shelters for rats, so residents are reminded to clear weeds and keep landscaped areas neat.
It is wishful thinking to believe that "the City" alone can take care of the rat problem. Rodent control is the responsibility of every property owner and resident.
Residents should contact 311 if they see rat activity or find burrows dug on their property. This will help the City to accumulate data and focus enforcement efforts in the most problematic areas.
Fighting the rat problem will entail an intensive long term plan. The first phase of that plan begins now.