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233
Organised rodent control can be traced back to the times of
Queen Elizabeth I when bounties were paid for the heads of
destroyed rats and mice. In more recent years, since the discovery
of an association between these rodents and the spread of plague
and other infectious disease, control has become progressively
more organised. The necessity to conserve food in both world wars
and the need to avoid the dissemination of disease by rats displaced
from sewers as a result of bomb damage added impetus
to these efforts.
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949
Rats and mice are notorious not only for the wholesale destruction
and fouling of foodstuffs and for the structural damage they
cause to buildings, but also for their part in the spread of disease.
Leptospirosis (Weil's disease) is primarily a disease of rats and is
one which can be fatal to man. The disease is transmitted by means
of food, dust, mud, slime and water which has been contaminated
by urine or faeces from infected rats. Efficient rodent control is the
first and most important defence against this type of disease.
The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949, requires the Local
Authority to take the necessary steps to ensure that, so far as is
practicable, their district is kept free from rats and mice, by :—
(i) carrying out inspections;
(ii) destroying rats and mice on their own property; and
(iii) enforcing the duties of owners and occupiers, as set out
in the Act.
It has not been found necessary during the year to take legal
action to enforce the provisions of the Act.
A Work Study Scheme introduced in June, 1968, was continued
during the current year. Provided all complaints and jobs were
satisfactorily dealt with it enabled bonuses up to 20% of their
wages to be paid to three full-time and one part-time operators
and one full-time investigator. In addition to the total of 2,871
recorded complaints (1,242 of rats and 1,629 of mice) giving a
monthly average of 239, other surveys were carried out in accordance
with the provisions of the Act which resulted in 11,136 inspections
being effected. All requests for assistance in respect of
rodent infestations were met.
During investigations, infestation was found to exist on 30 occasions
in Local Authority premises, 1,693 in dwelling houses and
283 in miscellaneous properties and places of business. In all, some
2,614 treatments were effected by the Council and 6 by occupiers
or other services.