Rodent Reports Increase in D.C. in 2007

An increase in complaints about rats and mice in the District last year hasn't discouraged city officials waging a campaign to eradicate the rodents.

"We are taking back the city from the rats, street by street, community by community," said Sybil Bowick, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Department of Health.

The number of rodent complaints logged by health officials in 2007 was 3,391 — an 8 percent increase over the 3,138 recorded in 2006.

But complaints have spiraled downward since the 4,415 logged in 2000, the year after then-Mayor Anthony A. Williams held a rat-control summit that led him to declare a citywide war on the rodents.

City officials say the increase last year is a result in part of increasing public awareness about how to report rodent complaints and to milder winter weather in recent years.

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Source: Washington Times