Milwaukee rat problem: Westlawn Gardens residents want city action
MILWAUKEE - A new, award-winning Milwaukee neighborhood has a rat problem.
Westlawn Gardens residents say they have seen dozens of critters – and want the city to take action.
The Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM) told FOX6 News it has a preventive pest control process in place which ramps up when they receive complaints. Residents say, from fear of walking outside at night to cleanliness concerns, ongoing efforts just aren't enough.
"You see rats back here, big rats. You see trash that builds up," said one resident, who asked not to be identified.
Viewer video of rats in Milwaukee's Westlawn Gardens neighborhood
A FOX6 viewer captured a nightmare backyard – large rats running between yards, beneath cars and around garbage cans in Westlawn Gardens.
"At night time, when I come in, I gotta worry about like throwing a rock or throwing a ball or something to see if anything will move before I can go in so nothing won't run in my house," the resident said. "That's a problem right there."
The resident said the neighborhood is full of kids and worries for their safety.
On top of that, garbage and recycling bins are staged right behind units – but no larger dumpsters are available to put excessive trash in. It feeds into concerns from residents like Qwan that the trash isn't helping.
"Yeah, the garbage cans. People just need to keep their trash picked up and stuff," said Qwan.
Construction across from Westlawn Gardens
FOX6 took the neighborhood's concerns to HACM, which manages public housing units, like Westlawn Gardens.
In a statement, HACM said the problem stems from construction across the street likely displacing the rats.
FOX6 asked residents about possible solutions, and one was to increase trash collection. The city just announced a new recycling collection schedule; as for garbage, any changes remain to be seen.
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Statement from HACM
There is active construction in the neighborhood and, as with most construction sites, the work can unfortunately displace animals from their underground homes. We have a preventative pest control process in place to address this, and we increase mitigation efforts when we receive individual reports from residents. In the first five months of 2021, we have received a handful of reports for the 75-acre campus that have been addressed or are being addressed. We will continue with these efforts for the health and safety of our community members.
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