Officials want law to abate rat problem

KENMORE, N.Y. (WIVB) - A public hearing was held Tuesday night to talk about a growing rat problem in Kenmore. Village officials tell News 4 they want to adopt a new law to help alleviate the problem.

Officials in the village of Kenmore want residents to keep their yards clean, free of garbage, fruit from trees, and especially bird seed. That's because according to the health department, rat-related complaints are up and bird feeders are the main attraction. There is a county law that prohibits ground feeding of birds.

Kenmore Building Inspector Michael Berns said, "They can't displace the bird food from the bird feeders or throw bird food on the ground."

Berns says the village wants to adopt that law so it can enforce it.

"What we have to do right now ,if we actually find bird feeders, we actually have to call the county and then they write the violations and then enforce them, so it would just save a step where we can actually enforce it ourselves," explained Berns.

A public hearing was held Tuesday night to discuss the growing problem that Berns says also has a lot to do with the dry weather.

Berns said, "They need four to six ounces of water daily, so they are running around looking for food an water."

Berns says they hope to vote on the new law to regulate bird feeding at the next village board meeting in two weeks.