It’s pretty hard to miss the sign Robert Cleveland put up on the front lawn of his Dartmouth home this week.
The sign directs people to his neighbours home and is offering rats for sale.
“A lot of people come by here and they see it, take pictures and give me the thumbs up as if to say good for you, you’re somebody that’s trying to look after the street,” Cleveland told Global News on Friday.
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Cleveland has lived on Trinity Avenue for the last 23 years.
He says over the last few years, his neighbours property hasn’t been taken care. It’s a problem that Cleveland says has led to hundreds of rats taking over.
“My wife seen one just a couple days ago when she was out putting the clothes out in the back and she seen one running around the back and she said if she sees another one we have to move,” he said.
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Cleveland says he has been taking it upon himself to try and fix the rat problem. He has a number of traps set up around his property and even works to try and trap them at his neighbours house.
The city says they don’t issue compliance orders for the removal of rats on private property – only for rental properties.
“Unfortunately, rats is a problem that has to be dealt with by the property owner. If it’s a case on a municipal property or in the sewers Halifax Water will bait for them but for private property to deal with them,” said Nick Ritcey, a spokesperson with the Halifax Regional Municipality.
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While they can’t order the removal of rats on private property, Ritcey says the city has ordered a clean-up of derelict vehicles from the Trinity Avenue property.
“There’s a compliance order to either repair or remove old vehicles from the property. So, the owner has a certain timeline that they have to either fix them or get rid of them,” he said.
There was no answer at the property when Global News knocked on the door Friday.
A search of the property records show the homeowner passed away last year. Cleveland says the man’s son has lived in the home for decades but hasn’t been staying there and only returns to the property to collect mail.
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Cleveland says he is stressed out and fed up with the rats in his neighbourhood and hoping someone can help him out.
He has started a petition to try and raise awareness along his street, so far it has 40 signatures.
“I’d like to see someone go in there, clean up the mess, go through the house and go through the crawlspace and keep baiting and see if they can get rid of that situation,” said Cleveland. “If they can’t do that, then tear the place down.”
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