Fw FYI: A ‘rat safari’ in Allston sheds flashlight on rodent problem
Joan Pasquale
To: cleveland-cir...@googlegroups.com <Cleveland-Cir...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Cleveland-Circle] FW: A ‘rat safari’ in Allston sheds flashlight on rodent problem
Great message from Mary Hellen Black (below) that she posted to HUAB, and I’m forwarding to this group. Please someone forward it to AB2006 and BACC as well, so more residents can see it, including those who participated in that Allston “rat safari”.
On 8/18/25, 3:15 PM, "Mary Helen Black" <homeowners-union-o...@googlegroups.com on behalf of m...@allstonian.com> wrote:
I don't think this article is informative or funny. I think it's pathetic. Instead of hamming it up like it's some big joke, they should be setting traps and helping ISD inspectors identify and cite problem properties.
We had a rat infestation in our little half block and I worked with a wonderful & very hardworking ISD Inspector 15 years ago named Robert Chan. He was responsible for all of Allston Brighton and the north end. One Inspector!
He checked out my house & my next-door neighbors , we were fine - clean as a whistle, no overgrown brush, no old wood or junk piled under the porches or in the yard.
Then we checked out three houses adjacent to one of my neighbors' and they all had problems.
Robert wrote up citations and then told me that they had X number of days to respond and share with ISD how they had to addressed the problem.
Given his case load, Robert asked me to check on the situation at that juncture. I told him which houses had taken steps to address the issues & which had not.
He then came out did another inspection & more citations. This went on for several months and eventually one house was getting fined every day, and they finally changed their tune & addressed the core problems & the rodent infestations in their yard..
It takes genuine resident sweat equity working hand-in-hand with ISD to truly address the problem.
Rats are a health risk, they carry serious diseases; their urine and feces get tracked into homes and that can be a real problem for pets, small children, and others who come in contact with the floor. They also chew wires in cars costing hundreds if not thousands of dollars of damage. They get into basements and cause immense damage.
The city has been woefully inadequate for more than two decades in addressing this problem - the city Council and the mayor have not funded ISD at the levels needed to address the public health risks, and nuisance issues that rats cause.
When Liz Braedon was first running for Office, she promised that she would help address the rodent problem is a public health issue, and she has not.
The city needs more inspectors. There should be at at least four for Allston Brighton; citations should be handed out daily to problem properties; and the fines, although increased last year, should be even bigger.
I remember living in Allston village and in lower Allston when we didn't have a rat problem and then in lower Allston, it began in 2002.
I have sent numerous letters and emails to the city, to City Councillors over the decades, and to ISD documenting the history of the problem.
I wish these people going on a rat safari would put their energy towards working with ISD and helping to actually solve the problem instead of making a big joke out of it.
Mary-Helen Black
On Aug 18, 2025, at 2:44 PM, 'Eva Webster' via Homeowners Union of Allston-Brighton <homeowners-union-o...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Glad people are organizing to do something about the rat problem, but still, this article is not good publicity for Allston.
(By the way, it’s the City’s fault – because of the development policies and decisions they have embraced for years - that large parts of Allston-Brighton are under control of absentee landlords.)
A ‘rat safari’ in Allston sheds flashlight on rodent problem
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/18/metro/rat-walk-in-allston-highlights-rat-problem/