The neighborhood is teeming with rats, you can see them running around the clock. — © Dirk Vertommen
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In the Doel, the Doornen and the Rozenstraat you can see the rats walking down the street. “I’m very scared of rats, so I’m walking down my street now. During the day they walk around here non-stop and they are not exactly shy, they are not afraid. Not even dogs. When it starts to get dark, people here no longer dare to go out for a walk with their dog. The rats are also on the playground and children play there,” says Astrid De Wolf, one of the residents.
“You see them walking back and forth”
Local residents complained that they had been raising the issue for months, but nothing was done. Out of desperation, resident Astrid De Wolf posted a message on Wednesday Facebook page ‘You are from Mechelen if’† She hopes that action will be taken soon. “You see the rats walking back and forth between the chicken coop around here and the house where there are nests,” she says.
Some local residents say that the resident of the house feeds the rats. “It is a misery. Wednesday afternoon I even saw a rat crawling in the tree in the garden in front of our house. I was really not good at it”, says Astrid De Wolf.
–Local resident Astrid De Wolf took pictures of rats that climb a tree in search of food. — © rr
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“Already got warnings”
Neighbors say there are several nests. “We can no longer open windows or doors,” it sounds. The Mechelen-Willebroek police indicate that the file is being processed. “The person I am questioning has already received warnings in the past and was asked to exterminate the rats, but they have not been followed up. Our district inspector visited the address again on Wednesday and he prepared an administrative report,” said police spokesman Dirk Van de Sande.
The police force also contacted the city services. An employee of the city already went by to exterminate rats. “It has been established that the person concerned is feeding the animals. This person was asked not to do that anymore,” said Mayor Alexander Vandersmissen (Vld-Groen-m+)
The city council on Thursday ordered a rat trap to fight the pests with rat poison. The playground in Doornstraat has been preventively closed and will remain so until the plague has passed. “So that children and pets cannot come into contact with the pesticides,” says Vandersmissen.
“We act in the interest of public health”
At the behest of the mayor, the police, together with the city’s Housing Department, are also organizing an inspection at the resident in question. In the decision, the person is ordered to cooperate with all measures that the Pied Piper deems necessary. “We act in the interest of public health,” says Alexander Vandersmissen.
Local residents receive a letter in the mail announcing the action on the public domain. It also contains information on how you can best prevent and combat pests yourself. Local residents indicate that the rats behave aggressively. “They defend their territory. That is why it is important that there are no food leftovers in the vicinity. The more they are, the bigger the problem becomes,” says Patrick Princen (Vld-Groen-m+), alderman for Public Works.
–The rats also forage for food in a nearby chicken coop. — © Dirk Vertommen
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