Latest news with #ratinfestation
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Bedbound pensioner's toe is chewed off by a RAT while 88-year-old was waiting for council to send an exterminator round
A bedbound pensioner had her toe chewed off by a rat while she waited for the council to send a pest exterminator to her home. The 88-year-old's daughter, Andrea Scott, first raised the infestation with the Labour-run local authority after seeing one of the rodents run from an armchair into the kitchen of her mother's home. Ms Scott was shocked when they told her that her elderly mother would have to pay £297 for the council to send round a pest exterminator - a cost out of reach for the diabetic pensioner, who has not been named. Even once she had paid for the treatment herself Ms Scott, who lives in a council-supplied house in Southampton, Hampshire, was given a date weeks away for the exterminator's visit. In the meantime she laid her own rat traps and poison in her mother's home to try and catch the rodents but none were caught. The situation drastically worsened on May 20 when Ms Scott got a call from her mother's carers who had discovered that a rat had chewed through the 88 year old's sock and the top of her toe, including the toenail. Ms Scott, 56, said the carers 'screamed' when they saw the puddle of blood on her mother's bed and that the whole family are still in shock, more than a week later. 'I was horrified and a week on our family are still in shock,' she said. 'Mum is diabetic meaning she has no feeling in her legs - the only positive is that she was not in any pain. 'She is currently in hospital - she just keeps saying "I can't believe what has happened". 'The council chose not to support a vulnerable old lady and look at what has happened.' Ms Scott continued: 'Why should any council tenant be forced to pay to get rid of the rats? 'Her carers found a puddle of blood and screamed when they saw what had happened. 'It's been so traumatic for mum and the whole family - I won't ever let her back in that house. 'From the research we have done it's the bedbound who are most vulnerable.' Neighbours of the 88-year-old told Ms Scott that they had also been having problems with rats. A Southampton City Council Spokesperson said: 'We take all reports of pest sightings seriously and encourage residents to report them to us using our website so that our team can assess the situation and work with the resident to deal with the issue. 'In response to a report made on Tuesday 27 May which raised the issues of a rat infestation and potentially unsafe electrics, the council are attempting to arrange an urgent visit from both the pest and electrical teams to investigate this issue further. 'Our thoughts are with the individual and we will continue to work with the family to ensure her mother's home is safe and free from pests.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Londonderry: Rat sightings fall as investigations continues
Rat sightings have dropped on Londonderry's riverfront, which had been plagued by large numbers of the rodents earlier this City and Strabane District Council said environmental health experts had visited Queen's Quay on Tuesday and had not observed any number of rodent reports received from the public over recent days has also fallen, the local authority week, a pest control expert warned a huge number of rats were enjoying a "five star all-inclusive holiday" on Derry's quay. At that time, pest control business owner Patricia Page said an area of the quay had become home to a "significant rat infestation"."They have all their needs, it's like a five star all-inclusive holiday for them, they have even got the sunshine," she told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today of rats were first spotted on the quay - an area popular with families, walkers and cyclists – in early May, with many videos of the rodents being shared on social media. The council said environment health officers had revisited the area on Tuesday as part of ongoing a spokeswoman said, they were looking at the "potential sites providing harbourage to rodents"."Officers have been liaising with local businesses in the area who have been proactively working to introduce a range of measures to deter rodents, and further works are planned to reduce the shrubbery growth providing shelter," the spokeswoman council is asking the public to continue to adhere to the public health guidance around the disposal of food and rubbish to "help ensure the problem does not reoccur".
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why horse owners have filed a lawsuit to keep a rat-infested B.C. racetrack open
At night, a sea of rats can be seen overtop of horse manure piles. Inside the stables, they crawl atop gates, scurry from stall to stall, and burrow beneath the ground. That's according to Donna Scrannage, a decades-long horse owner and user of the Fraser Downs racetrack in Surrey, where she says the infestation began about five years ago and has only gotten worse. "They're in their feed tubs. They're in their water buckets. They're in the stalls constantly," she told CBC News. "They wreak a lot of havoc in there, and it's messy and it's not nice to deal with." The Fraser Downs is owned by the gambling company Great Canadian Entertainment, which has ordered the stables to shut down for at least three months for pest control. The only problem: the facility is unique in Metro Vancouver, and horse owners depend on it to both house the animals and train them for the upcoming fall racing season. Horse owners have filed an injunction in B.C. Supreme Court in hopes of keeping it open, proposing alternative rat eradication plans that would allow for continued use of the stalls. "We've come up with alternate solutions so that our members are not left with nowhere to go; there are no other training facilities in the province of B.C.," said Scrannage, who is also the vice president of Harness Racing B.C. (HRBC), which is leading the lawsuit. "Our young horses are in jeopardy of not being ready for our fall meet," said Scrannage. In an emailed statement, Chuck Keeling, a vice president at Great Canadian Entertainment, charged HRBC with attempting to impede pest control efforts. "We intend to vigorously defend the litigation so that we can ensure the health and safety of HRBC members, our team members, and guests," said Keeling. Closure ordered The Fraser Downs is one of two horse racing tracks in B.C., and the only racetrack for standardbred horses. HRBC says it has paid GCE to use the site over the summer for 35 years. It says 218 members would be affected by a closure of the Fraser Downs, including 75 to 100 people who work there during the racing season. In a memo to owners from GCE, now a court exhibit, horses were ordered to vacate the premises by May 9, with the pest control project expected to last 60 to 90 days. HRBC says the closure date was recently moved to May 30. Scrannage says GCE has suggested the stalls could reopen Aug. 15. The fall racing season is expected to begin on Sept. 4. Scrannage says horses typically need six weeks of training before the season opens. "Basically, they're giving us two weeks to condition horses, where normally we would have all summer," said Scrannage. "If we don't start conditioning young horses July 1, our September start is in jeopardy," she added. HRBC says dozens of families rely on the income generated from training and horses. Pest control GCE did not elaborate further on its pest control plans, but Scrannage suggested it involves poison to eradicate the rodents over several months. HRBC says it has proposed an alternative plan for carbon monoxide fumigation that would allow for the continued use of some stalls and the race track. "We can do this and have horses back in the barn within 24 hours," said Scrannage. "Theirs is that you need to be out in 60 to 90 days, but they're not giving us a definitive timeframe." In a statement, HRBC president Kelly MacMillan said other proposals were also rejected. "As a last-ditch effort to keep our workers and animals on-site, we asked GCE to keep at least one barn open through the summer months to keep them onsite and continue training, but they rejected this," said MacMillan. "We even asked them to just keep the training facilities open if the barns had to be closed." Their case is expected to be heard in front of a B.C. Supreme Court judge on May 28.
CBC
23-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Why horse owners have filed a lawsuit to keep a rat-infested B.C. racetrack open
At night, a sea of rats can be seen overtop of horse manure piles. Inside the stables, they crawl atop gates, scurry from stall to stall, and burrow beneath the ground. That's according to Donna Scrannage, a decades long horse owner and user of the Fraser Downs racetrack in Surrey, where she says the infestation began about five years ago and has only gotten worse. "They're in their feed tubs, they're in their water buckets, they're in the stalls constantly," she told CBC News. "They wreak a lot of havoc in there and it's messy and it's not nice to deal with." The Fraser Downs is owned by the gambling company Great Canadian Entertainment, which has ordered the stables to shut down at least three months for pest control. The only problem: the facility is unique in Metro Vancouver, and horse owners depend on it to both house the animals and train them for the upcoming fall racing season. Horse owners have filed a supreme court injunction in hopes of keeping it open, proposing alternative rat eradication plans that would allow for continued use of the stalls. "We've come with alternate solutions so that our members are not left with nowhere to go, there are no other training facilities in the province of B.C.," said Scrannage, who is also the vice president of Harness Racing B.C. (HRBC), which is leading the lawsuit. "Our young horses are in jeopardy of not being ready for our fall meet," said Scrannage. In an e-mailed statement, Chuck Keeling, a vice president at Great Canadian Entertainment charged HRBC with attempting to impede pest control efforts. "We intend to vigorously defend the litigation so that we can ensure the health and safety of HRBC members, our team members, and guests," said Keeling. Closure ordered The Fraser Downs is one of two horse racing tracks in B.C., and the only racetrack for standardbred horses. HRBC says it has paid GCE to use the site over the summer for 35 years. It says 218 members would be impacted by a closure of the Fraser Downs, including 75 to 100 people who work there during the racing season. In a memo to owners from GCE, now a court exhibit, horses were ordered to vacate the premises by May 9, with the pest control project expected to last 60 to 90 days. HRBC says the closure date was recently moved to May 30. Scrannage says GCE has suggested the stalls could re-open August 15. The fall racing season is expected to begin on Sept. 4. Scrannage says horses typically need six weeks of training before the season opens. "Basically they're giving us two weeks to condition horses, where normally we would have all summer," said Scrannage. "If we don't start conditioning young horses July 1, our September start is in jeopardy," she added. HRBC says dozens of families rely on the income generated from training and horses. Pest control GCE did not elaborate further on it's pest control plans, but Scrannage suggested it involves poison to eradicate the rodents over several months. HRBC says it's proposed an alternative plans for carbon monoxide fumigation that would allow for continued use of some stalls and the race track. "We can do this and have horses back in the barn within 24 hours," said Scrannage. "Theirs is you need to be out in 60 to 90 days, but they're not giving us a definitive timeframe." In a statement, HRBC president Kelly MacMillan said other proposals were also rejected. "As a last-ditch effort to keep our workers and animals on-site, we asked GCE to keep at least one barn open through the summer months to keep them on-site and continue training, but they rejected this," said MacMillan. "We even asked them to just keep the training facilities open if the barns had to be closed." Their case is expected to be heard in front of a supreme court judge on May 28.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Elderly couple reveal they have been besieged by giant rats for 10 years - while council claims there is 'no evidence of infestation'
An elderly couple have said they have been forced to live with a rat-infested garden for ten years. Valerie Sheppard, 83, and her husband Colin, 90, have spent over a decade trying to fend the rodents off their property. But they have slammed their council over what they say is the local authority's lack of action and claim the issue is making them 'ill'. The couple installed four CCTV cameras, called out more pest control experts than they can remember and sent countless emails to Test Valley Borough Council asking for assistance. They explained that the issues first started in 2014 when rodents began to appear from a broken-down car and garage next to their home. Mrs Sheppard said: 'We first realised there was a problem back in 2014 when we saw a rat sat in the middle of our back garden path - it was there so long I was able to get my camera and take a picture before it ran off. 'Test Valley Brough Council finally came out in 2016, boarded up the garage and told us - the rats are all gone.' In the nine years since, the couple said they been 'pushed from pillar to post' trying to get the Test Valley Borough Council to take some action against the neighbour. They explained the issues first started in 2014 when rodents began to appear from a broken-down car and garage next to their home. Pictured: Rats found in the couple's garden The grandmother of nine continued: 'My husband Colin is 90 and suffers from heart and lung problems - the only pleasure he gets is looking after the garden, but I fear for his health. 'This has all gone on for 11 years now - we can't go on like this. 'We are at our wits' end - the two of us have lived here for 26 years and came here for Colin's health, now I fear the garden will make us ill. 'The council have failed us - at every turn they have attempted to shift blame onto someone else and not deal with the rats.' A council spokesperson said: 'We regret that Ms Sheppard is unhappy with our response. 'We have done all we can to respond to allegations of a rat infestation in this area multiple times since 2016. 'While there has been evidence of some level of rat activity during this time, this is not in itself evidence of an infestation in the immediate area. 'Low levels of rat activity are not unusual in and around towns and villages. 'We will continue to investigate any allegations
