* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Conaway
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Rat Eradication - We Need a New Plan
FOR the purpose of requesting the Director of the Baltimore City Health Department, the Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Director of Public Works, and the Director of Finance to report to the City Council on the City's current rat eradication procedures as well as to discuss the development of new rat eradication strategies and to explore alternate funding sources to aid in the eradication of the rat problem.
Body
Recitals
Rats are a major source of disease. In addition to playing hosts to parasites such as lice, fleas, and ticks, rats are linked to the spread of a number of infectious diseases. These diseases include:
(1) leptospirosis, a disease that causes muscle aches and fever and can lead to serious
inflamation of the nerve to the eye, brain, spinal column, or other nerve endings;
(2) toxoplasmosis, an infection that is of particular concern to persons with depressed
immune systems and pregnant women whose unborn children are at risk of developing mental retardation, convulsions, spasticity, cerebral palsy, deafness, and severely impaired vision, as well as abnormally large or abnormally small heads;
(3) trichinosis, which causes abdominal discomfort, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting,
fatigue, and fever, and, in severe cases, death;
(4) skin disorders, caused by fungi, which result in ulcers, abscesses, skin eruptions or
lesions, or, caused by mites, which result in infectious scabies; and
(5) more familiar diseases such as rabies, salmonella, and bubonic and pneumonic
plagues.
Female rats can reproduce 3 to 7 times per year. Because rats have a life-span of 18 months, a single pair of rats can produce dozens of offspring that add to the population of unwelcome rodents that threaten the health and welfare of the residents of Baltimore City neighborhoods. Particularly vulnerable are our children who play in the vacant lots that are home to this vicious army of marauding menaces.
Baltimore City has been plagued by a rat problem for many years. In order to properly combat this problem, more funding needs to be presented so that the issue at hand can be confronted in a serious manner, and so that appropriate measures can be taken swiftly to rid the City of these vermin. By bringing these various leaders and agencies together and discussing strategies that may help, hopefully we as a city can come together to eradicate this problem from within our borders.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That this Body requests the Director of the Baltimore City Health Department, the Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Director of Public Works, and the Director of Finance to report to the City Council on the City's current rat eradication procedures, as well as to discuss the development of new rat eradication strategies and to explore alternate funding sources to aid in the eradication of the rat problem.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Director of Public Works, the Director of the Baltimore City Health Department, the Director of Finance, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the Council.
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