Chicago Can’t Keep Trying to Poison Its Way Out of Rat Problem: Report

Clip: 8/4/2026 | 2m 27sVideo has Closed Captions

Chicago's rat problem isn’t likely to improve if the city doesn’t come up with a new playbook.

8/4/2026 | Rating NR

Chicago Can’t Keep Trying to Poison Its Way Out of Rat Problem: Report

Clip: 8/4/2026 | 2m 27sVideo has Closed Captions

Chicago's rat problem isn’t likely to improve if the city doesn’t come up with a new playbook.

Rodenticides often wind up having dire consequences for other wildlife, particularly raptors that eat rats, leading wildlife advocates to urge the city to discontinue the poison’s use and consider alternatives such as rat birth control.

8/4/2026 | Rating NR

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>> Chicago has a rat problem and it is unlikely to improve if the city doesn't come up with a new playbook.

That's according to a new report by the city's watchdog in here to tell us more about it is our own Patty wet Lee.

Patty, what are the ID's audit?

Find?

Well, in short, they took a look at the Bureau of Road in Control July 2023.

To July 2024.

And and the topline findings were that.

>> The bureau relies far to have Lee almost exclusively on call.

So 3, 1, one report's to 3, 1, one for complaints to follow up for abatement.

And they're saying those calls are also put in a queue sort of in the order in which they're taken not necessarily triage, which ones are more severe or important and then other key finding was that the bureau takes very much poison first approach when best practices in pest management now are moving toward poison as a last resort in rather than addressing the root cause, which would be rats source of food and shelter.

They're going with the poison approach and then not necessarily knowing if that was effective or not.

So what were the report's recommendations, one that they should be far more proactive in do more of a survey in data collection go around the city.

You know, New York surveyed some like 35,000 properties and then assigned sort of a danger level to them or an intensity level.

And then you follow-up in the order in which the issue was the most severe.

Also integrate with all the other departments that might have a hand in pest management, whether it's removing weeds or building code violations and things like that.

While acknowledging that all of U.S.

citizens or residents of Chicago have a role to play because that trash is clearly coming from somewhere and you know, if we're not throwing it away properly, if we're not picking up dog waste, you know, that's just the buffet that rats are dining out on.

rats will be attracted to that 10 seconds left.

What's next?

They said they will follow through with a lot of these recommendations, but that some of them would be depending on funding and non technology upgrades.

If you want a database of what to where to find the rats you need somebody to build that database and you're going pay for it.

OK, patty, what we thanks so much.

Thanks.