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Kiel fights against rat infestation: focus on citizens' waste behavior!
Kiel is planning measures to combat the rat plague in Gaarden-Ost. The city's focus is on education and controls.
Kiel fights against rat infestation: focus on citizens' waste behavior!
A real clearing operation is underway in Kiel: The city has now presented a comprehensive concept to combat the massive rat infestation in Gaarden-Ost. It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of these unloved rodents there. Last year, 50% of all rat sightings in Kiel occurred in this district. This not only puts the residents in distress, but also the employees of the waste management company (ABK), who sometimes had quite unpleasant experiences dealing with the little animals.
How this plague came about is obvious. Incorrect waste separation and improper disposal by residents are the main causes. In order to get under control, the city is now planning various education and control measures. The aim is to deprive the rats of their food source so that they cannot get out of hand in the first place.
The city's solutions
A controlled investigation of around 700 backyards in Gaarden-Ost showed that over half of these backyards had abnormalities, such as rat droppings and infested garbage cans. To counteract this, owners should be obliged to take action against rat infestation themselves. If nothing happens here, the city takes action and takes over the removal, while the costs are billed to the owner.
Professional pest controllers are also hired to eliminate the pests using poison in bait. Regular inspections of the affected backyards are also part of the program in order to monitor and improve the situation sustainably. To promote understanding, the city will launch multilingual flyers and a poster campaign called “Less Garbage – Less Rats.”
A new path to enlightenment
But it's not just information materials that are on the agenda. Waste management company employees will speak directly with residents to promote their understanding of proper waste behavior. This is complemented by a mascot – “Trashys” – which is intended to specifically appeal to children in order to encourage them to separate waste in a playful way.
The situation is anything but harmless. There have been reports of rats jumping on employees, creating additional risks. Hostility towards ABK employees also occurred when they pointed out deficiencies in waste disposal. The city hopes to achieve success as soon as possible and to be able to use the new measures as a positive example for other affected urban areas.
Kiel is tackling the problem resolutely and showing how important it is to work together to combat such challenges. It remains to be seen how quickly the measures will take effect and whether the rat population will soon be a thing of the past.