Baltimore City Must Get Tough On Sanitation Code Violations

Kudos to Charles Village for fighting back against the decline of Baltimore City.  , The Charles Village Community Benefits District announced that 150 rats have been killed over the last month due to their rat abatement initiative. 

I hate to rain on the parade, but I'd say 150 dead rats in a month isn't any kind of victory.  In fact, that number of dead rats in relatively clean Charles Village only indicates the extent of the problem that Charles Village (and all the city) have.

Jeff Hauf, president of Regional Pest Management, told the North Baltimore Patch that the success of any rat abatement program depends on residents eliminating sources of food for rats, which in this city, are primarily pet waste and trash not being stored properly in cans with tight fitting lids.

Unfortunately, asking people, or even urging them, to stop feeding the rats isn't going to work.  The city is going to have to get very serious on fining sanitation code violations and making the fines stick.  But our current crop of politicians seem to think putting liens on home owners where violations occur is some kind of harsh punishment.  Maybe so.  But if you don't make the fines for violations hurt, people will not change.  And those who do not change will help the rest of us change - change our addresses from Baltimore City to anywhere else.