Will the City or County Animal Services Help Me with A Rat Issue?

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If you find rats often in and around your home, or see substantial amount of rat droppings, then you might be facing a rat infestation. This obviously is bad news, and for a number of reasons. Not only can rats chew on wires, wood, and even through walls, leading to significant damage to your home or place of business, but they also carry disease. Contrary to popular belief, rats are not clean – they are clean when kept as pets, but out in the wild they can and will spread disease. So, what are your options when it comes to a detected rat problem? Should you contact the local authorities, take things into your own hands, or hire a professional wildlife control service?



Will the local authorities help? The short answer is no. Local authorities are responsible for public places, so if your problem is with the surrounding area around your home, like a park or abandoned public buildings which have become infested by rats, then you might have a shot at getting the authorities involved to help you out. But if we’re talking about your own property, that’s private property belonging to you, so the local authorities have no business interfering. And if they will, it would be to tell you to handle the infestation as it can spread, and depending on where you live, there may be local laws which can target you and force you to do something about it.

What can you do? Should you handle the problem yourself? You can try, but attempting to handle a wildlife-related problem alone with no experience in these sort of activity won’t be easy. Not only would you risk getting bit or catching some diseases, but you’re more than likely to not take the proper approach. Rats don’t just appear out of the blue with no reason whatsoever – there’s something in that environment which suits their specific needs. A professional will probably trace those aspects first and tackle them before they actually handle the rats themselves. That’s because simply killing the rats allows for others to move in shortly after.

So, get in touch with a wildlife control professional to properly assess the situation and take all precautionary steps to get rid of the root of the problem first, then handle the remaining rat population in the area. Doing so will make sure you won’t be exposing yourself, your family, your pets and other wildlife to any risks, and that your rat problem will be properly dealt with. And remember – if it’s your private property we’re talking about, it is your sole responsibility to handle the problem yourself. And handling the problem yourself by contracting a professional service is the best step you could take. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does rat removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of rats - my main rat removal info guide.
Example rat trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Rat job blog - learn from great examples of rat jobs I've done.