As a general rule, the county and city animal services will NOT help you with a rat issue. There are many reasons behind this, one of which is simply because they do not have the resources. These people are there to help out with stray dogs that are running rampant around the neighborhood. That's the sort of challenge they can deal with. They are just not well-equipped to deal with catching every rat that happens to enter every home in the county or city.
If you give them a call, the city and county animal services may be able to offer you some helpful advice. you might even find that they can lend you a hand when it comes to traps. But that's pretty much as far as they will go. They just can't deal with every rat.
You can, on the other hand, and you can deal with them all single-handedly by ensuring they cannot get inside your property. If you are sure that all repairs are done to your home, and all damage is kept on top of, no animal will be able to penetrate your fortress. You would work hard to ensure burglars wouldn't get into your home. Why aren't you putting the same effort into preventing furry food-thieves from entering your home also?
Go back to the Rats in the Attic home page.
Will the city or county animal services help me with a rat issue?
When you suddenly notice rat droppings in your home including on your counters, you realize that you have a problem that is not going to be easy to fix. Rats move in and make themselves at home when they can find food and shelter. Once they find a home, they will immediately start making a nest made from different materials they find through the home. They may create a hole in the cloth of furniture. They may chew on some old clothes in the attic, the boxes the clothing is in, and steal the pillow fluff inside your couch pillows. They can destroy so much in your home over time. They can also carry diseases that you don’t want to be exposed to.
Rats multiply rapidly and when one moves in, another will soon follow, and then another. Each female rat will have babies that will in turn grow up and have babies. Before you know it, you will have a rat infestation. If you were to contact a rat removal pro, you will find that the cost to remove them is not going to be cheap. You may want to reach out to your city or county animal services to see if they can provide any relief for your rat infestation.
The city or county animal service will not help with a rat infestation. The local animal services are only available for public places. If you live next to a public maintained location, such as a park, that may be overcome with a rat infestation, you may be able to get the help with the rats but only in the park area. When it comes to private property, no local authority will be able to remove the rats for you.
What options do you have?
If you don’t have any experience in the removal of rats in your home, you may not be aware of the options you may have.
Option #1: You could try to remove the rats yourself. If you do this, it's important to know that you will have to purchase the traps or the bait, and set it, lure them in, trap them, then release them. In all of the situations, you increase your chances of getting bit by one of them which can put you at risk of catching some type of disease they may be carrying.
Rats are in your home for a reason. You need to determine what the reason is and eliminate it. Do a home inspection on the outside of your home and the inside to see if you can find out where they are coming in through. You can seal up any openings that you find and then set traps throughout the house to catch them.
Option #2: You can hire a wildlife professional to come to your home and remove the rats. They won’t go around your home searching for openings that the rats can get into, you can accomplish that. They will come to your home, determine where the rats are located inside your home, and remove them by means of traps.
