The City of Chicago Must Pick-Up Garbage More Than Once a Week to Fight Risk of Disease Caused by Rat Population.
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The City of Chicago Must Pick-Up Garbage More Than Once a Week to Fight Risk of Disease Caused by Rat Population.
The city of Chicago collects garbage across the city just one day a week. According to the city website “Pick‑ups are weekly, Mondays through Fridays. Collections are made weekdays with 350 daily routes.” (http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/streets/provdrs/san/svcs/residential_garbagecollection.html)..
The large amount of garbage accumulated in alleys leads to an increase of the rat population. Garbage bags are often out of the containers, eventually landing in front of homeowners properties, and over the summer, under high temperatures, the garbage becomes decomposed, bringing to the air all kinds of germs and bacteria with thousands of flies around it.
The city asks residents for cooperation: “The Department of Streets & Sanitation needs the cooperation of residents to keep alleys rat free. You can help by making sure your trash is properly contained. Exposed garbage is the primary reason rodents proliferate. When garbage carts are securely closed, rats will eat the rodenticide and die.” (http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/streets/provdrs/rodent/svcs/rodent_baiting.html)
But the bottom line is that Chicagoans need the cooperation of the city as well to keep alleys rats-free. Chicago has a large number of properties with insufficient garbage containers. Residents cannot keep the garbage carts closed when it accumulates faster than it is collected. That leads to a public health risk because rats won’t eat the rodenticide. They are going to survive eating garbage from alleys and they are going to spread disease through the infected fleas and ticks they carry. As the city of Chicago states in its website “The risk of disease being spread from rats to humans is very real. By their very nature, rats carry a variety of potentially infected fleas and ticks which may be passed on to people. In rare occurrences, especially when cornered, rats can bite humans or pets.” (http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/streets/provdrs/rodent/svcs/rats_in_chicago.html)
Chicago garbage collection is a matter of public health affecting all its residents. Please sign this petition asking the city to increase the number of weekly garbage pickups to keep Chicagoans free of rats and mice.
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