Rat hater Susan Rayba called it the “answer to her prayers.”
A proposal that would more than double the number of Baltimore County inspectors patrolling for violations that aggravate rodent infestations has residents like those in Rayba?s Dundalk neighborhood ? where her husband has killed 83 rats since June ? celebrating. Already, a herd of inspectors swept her street Monday and issued nearly all of her neighbors $25 tickets for heaps of junk, trash cans without lids and festering pet waste, she said.
“It?s awesome,” Rayba said. “It is the solution. Once people contain their trash, the rats will die off.”
The council Monday introduced legislation to authorize the 29 inspectors from the county?s permits department to issue citations when they find rat-friendly conditions. Combined with the county?s 16 environmental inspectors, the measure will provide “more manpower” to combat rodents, said Don Mohler, spokesman for County Executive Jim Smith.
Perhaps more importantly, advocates said permits inspectors are assigned to geographic districts, allowing them to patrol problem areas instead of simply responding to residents? calls. A complaint-driven system keeps “neighbors hating neighbors,” said Carl Persiani, a Dundalk resident who calls his backyard a “rat kill zone.”
“I don?t want to see my neighborhood come to that,” Persiani said. “But it?s time we start cracking down.”
The proposal, which is scheduled for a council discussion Tuesday, comes after state and local lawmakers begged Smith to fund a complete rat eradication of Dundalk. Councilman John Olszewski Sr., who represents the Dundalk area, said he has recorded a 600 percent increase in the number of rat complaints over the past two years.
State Sen. Norman Stone and Del. Sonny Minnick, both Democrats from Dundalk, sent Smith letters pleading for help.
But the problem is not limited to Dundalk, residents said. Wendy Crites, a former Towson property owner, said junkyards near the student-populated Donnybrook Apartments harbor immense rat populations. She, too, lauded the proposal.
“It?s past due, it?s absolutely needed,” Crites said. “The county has not kept up with it.”
