Copenhagen will be rat-free by 2015, if new City Council plans prove a success. A vote is expected to be held in the coming weeks to decide if additional trapping and blocking methods could rid Denmark’s capital city of its vermin infestation.
The council’s Technical and Environmental Committee has suggested that trapping the pests in the sewers would concentrate the rats and allow them to be exterminated more easily. The method has already been tested in allotment societies where residents reported a significant reduction in sightings.
According to Morten Otkjaer Thune, who manages Copenhagen’s vermin divisions, prevention is paramount in the fight against vermin.
“The most important thing is to fill the holes in sewers where the rats come from,” he said in an interview with public broadcaster DR. “If not, we’ll be fighting rats forever. It doesn’t make sense as long we have problems with our sewers,” he added.
Thune went on to say that residents must also do their bit if the city is to be pest free. “If you see broken flagstones outside your home, it could mean that rats are trying to dig their way out from underneath. If it’s possible to catch them at that stage and then fix the hole, then we’ve gone a long way towards solving the problem,” he said.