Swift Current steps up rat-control efforts

Swift Current is beefing up its rat-control squad amid an unprecedented infestation of thevermin.

Nine pest control officers from the province will join two already working for thecity.

Since late May, hundreds of Norway rats have been found in the city of 15,000 in the southwest part of the province.

The local health region said some people reported being bitten in their beds. Some business operators said they were worried the infestation was hurting them financially and was giving their city a bad name.

When a rat turned up in Calgary last week, officials in Alberta which bills itself a rat-free province were quick to suggest it came from Saskatchewan.

In recent weeks, the city has been putting 100 kilograms of poison rat bait per day at the city landfill and the bait is being gobbled up.

Some residents say the city didn'trecognize the magnitude of the problem and reacted too slowly.

City councillor Jerrod Schafer, who has been designated the city's point man on the rat problem, acknowledged at a news conference Wednesday that the city has made mistakes.

It turns out people who said the rat problem originated from the dump might have beenon to something.

Schafer said the pest control company the city had hired in the spring to monitor the city landfill repeatedly told the city there was "minimal" rat activity there.

However, later in the summer, after a provincial pest control officer was brought in, the city learned there was a "substantial" rat problem at the dump, Schafer said.

But while the city's early response may have been "deficient" in some respects, it's now on top of the situation, Schafer said.

The new rat control plan Schafer announced includes free traps for low-income families.

The city will continue to encourage citizens to do everything they can to rat-proof their homes and clean up their yards. In addition to the 11 pest control officers, the city has another eight employees involved in the rat-elimination effort.

The goal is to reduce rat activity to a "minimal level" within six weeks, Schafer said.

According to the city, about $300,000 is being spent on rat control.