It’s a pest problem that residents of one Scarborough street have been dealing with for months but now after one woman was bitten by a rat, they’re demanding the city take action.
Those who live on Beechgrove Drive say the problem started when city workers dug up the sewers at the end of their street.
When the work was finished and the road was repaired, the rats started showing up.
'Rats are ruining my life,' bite victim Susan Cook said. (CTV News Toronto)
“In the last two months we’ve seen nothing but rats” Susan Cook said.
“Morning, noon and night. Rats all the time.”
On Wednesday night, Cook was trying to pick some vegetable from her garden when she felt a sharp pain on the top of her hand.
When she looked down she saw she was bleeding and saw a rat staring back at her.
Cook bled from her hand after the rat bite earlier this week. (Supplied photo)
Cook will undergo a series of anti-rabies treatments. (CTV News Toronto)
Cook was taken to hospital by ambulance and put on a high dose of antibiotics. She’s also going to begin a course of rabies shots on Thursday night.
Cook says she’s called 3-1-1 between 15 and 20 times, but they’ve repeatedly told her that because the rats are on her property, there’s nothing they can do.
“We’ve got a big problem, but the city doesn’t want to take any responsibility and I think they should because they’re coming from city property.”
John Wellman has lived on Beechgrove Drive for 53 years and says the first time he saw a rat was ten days ago.
“We think the city should pay a bit more attention to it than what they have done,” Wellman said.
Cook was bitten in her backyard. (CTV News Toronto)
Meanwhile, Cook says she’s worried about others who might be exposed to a rat bite, including her three-year-old grandson.
“I don’t want him getting bit. He doesn’t know any different, he could put his hand in the bush you know- and he could get bit.”
Staff in the office of city councillor Jennifer McKelvie say they were only made aware of the issue on Thursday morning.
“Our staff are monitoring closely and have escalated the matter with the City. We're waiting on more information and options and will be doing everything we can to get the problem resolved and to support the constituent through the process,” McKelvie’s policy and communications advisor Dino Alic told CTV News Toronto.
Cook says until the vermin are vanquished, she plans to stay inside.
She says she and her husband no longer sit in their backyard, or eat dinner on their patio.
“I don’t even have company come here because I’ve got the rats.”
