Vancouver's health authority is advocating the city step in to address some new and unwanted visitors on Granville Street: Rats.
Dozens of the pesky rodents, disrupted because of recent construction and attracted to the empty lots of bricks and debris, have been scrambling to find a new home.
Though it doesn't necessarily mean there are more rats, it does means they're on the move and easier to see.
Vancouver Coastal Health is advocating pest control be mandatory with demolition permits ordered from the city.
"A pest control company is brought in, rids the property of rats before the demolition starts, and then we don't have a subsequent problem with the community and complaints from the public," Nic Losito said.
Coastal Health doesn't know why the city hasn't gotten on board.
"We believe they have the power to do that with a demolition permit and I guess we just have to make the case even stronger," Losito said.
The city did not comment in time for this story. But pest control officers say even though there would be some logistics to work out, the overall concept is good.
"If that building were to be destroyed or brought to the ground there wouldn't be any displacement of rats at all because they wouldn't have a pest issue," Sean Rollo of Orkin Pest Control said.
"So yes, it would be advantages."
But Coastal Health says people shouldn't be worried because the rats don't likely carry any serious diseases.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Norma Reid
