Feral Cats Used to Control Rat Problem on North Side

CHICAGO, IL - It has already been determined that rats have a unique love affair with the North Side of Chicago, and in one neighborhood the problem is about to get much worse.

The upcoming teardown of the Children’s Memorial Hospital building at the busy Halsted/Fullerton/Lincoln intersection in Lincoln Park is likely going to send the rodents living there and underneath the building into other parts of the neighborhood.

To combat this, the City Council passed what 43rd Ward Ald. Michelle Smith calls the “toughest” ordinance ever directed at rodents.

“I think we can all agree that rodent problems are more than an annoyance -- they're a public health nuisance,” Smith wrote in a recent ward newsletter announcing the passage of the ordinance.

The ordinance mandates that anyone obtaining a permit for new construction must have on-site rodent abatement from the time excavation begins until all excavation is complete and the foundation is laid or risk heavy fines, citations and stop-work orders from the City, according to Smith.

The city’s Streets and Sanitation department has also already begun baiting the areas within two blocks of the Hospital site and new garbage carts will come to the area to replace old and broken ones.

“This plan is the most aggressive plan undertaken in this ward,” Smith said.

But a resident of nearby Lake View may have found a more effective plan. One that’s already working for her.

Victoria Thomas tells NPR the story of how she rescued three feral cats, sterilized and vaccinated them and then housed them in her backyard to prey on rats.

The rats disappeared on the first day the cats were introduced to Thomas’ yard, although she’ll find a dead one laying around now and then.

"These cats are amazing. They cleaned up everything,” Thomas said. “We have a couple of dead rats, you know, once a month, we'll get a dead rat. [The cats will] leave it here, they'll bring it to my door.”