Windsor city council to consider rat control in budget

Windsor's city council will consider its role in the rat control business later this month as part of 2017 budget deliberations.

Last year, council approved a fee of $100 for setting out poison bait to get rid of the rodents a service that had perviously been free.

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The city had 900 requests by residents to send staff out to review rat problems in 2016, but Anne Marie Albidone, manager of environmental services, said the proportion of property owners agreeing to have the city set out traps went down.

She suspects it's because of the fee.

"It certainly has been a good program, in terms of keeping the rodent control somewhat at bay," she said."I'd hate to think what the population would be right now if we didn't have the rodent control program, given that it is on an incline."

According to Albidone, Windsor is one of only two municipalities in the province involved in rat control.

City councillor, Hilary Payne, said that during budget deliberations politicians will decided whether to keep the fee, scrap it, or get out of the rat control business entirely.

With rat populations at a 10-year high is some parts of the city, Payne said leaving pest control to the professionals, not politicians, is his preferred option.

"They are just another of God's animals, but they're still very objectionable, and they probably carry disease too," he said. "Altogether, they're a very serious issue, so a reduced charge first, and if not, then complete elimination, because I think it's a really serious problem."