View report page

41
Rats and Mice (Destruction) Act, 1919.—During the
year the Rats and Mice (Destruction) Act, 1919, continued
in operation, the District Inspectors being
responsible for its administration in their respective
districts.
Section I places the responsibility of ridding the premises
of the pest upon the occupier, but this is somewhat
difficult when dealing with tenement houses containing
in some cases three or more families.
During the year several complaints were received with
regard to rat infestation of premises. In each case an
inspection was made and advice and instructions given.
A supply of poison was given where necessary and in most
cases satisfactory results have been obtained.
Old buildings often provide ideal accommodation for
rats; hollow partitions, space between floors and ceilings
and under basement flooring being used for nesting. It
is a difficult matter to rid such premises of rats.
Generally speaking some improvement has been made,
but it appears to me that no great advance will result
until systematic attack is made upon the rodents in their
chief breeding grounds, the sewers. Throughout the
Borough, and I have no doubt throughout the whole of
London, there exist old brick sewers swarming with rats,
from which they emerge at night and enter dwellings
and other premises.
National Rat Week was held in November, as in previous
years. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
again urged local authorities to take action, and arrangements
were made for the baiting of the sewers, through
the agency of the Borough Engineer and Surveyor's
Department.
Fifty-six lbs. of rat poison was laid in sewer manholes.
The Borough Engineer and Surveyor reports that in
most cases the poison had disappeared. Traces of where