Disinfestation actions are undertaken in Wroclaw every year. These are both legally required actions and interventions. This year, because of the rise in these interventions regarding the occurrence of rodents in the city, the city will carry out an additional infestation action in communal real properties until the end of the first quarter of 2023.
It will be conducted in most problematic areas and in real properties. Its scope will cover the territory limited by the Oder River, the Millennium Bridge, ul. Milenijna, ul. Na Ostatnim Groszu, the Gądowianka flyover, ul. Klecińska, ul. Petuniowa, Al. Gen. Hallera, Al. Armii Krajowej, the Rakowiecki Forest and the Old Oder.
It is a joint action of the city, real property administrators and inhabitants.
‘Effective disinfestation is possible only when real property administrators and inhabitants support our municipal actions. As we know, rodents are migrant animals that, in the case of occurrence of unfavourable living conditions in a given area, move to neighbouring areas with favourable living and feeding conditions. Therefore, we encourage all real property administrators to carry out similar actions, or at least monitor the occurrence of rodents, on their premises at the same time,’ says Małgorzata Demianowicz, Head of the Department of the Environment and Agriculture of the Wroclaw City Office.
‘If traces of rodents appear in real properties managed by them, such interventional disinfestation is a necessity required by the law,’ adds Demianowicz.
According to par. 30 pt 4 of the Rules of Maintenance of Cleanliness and Order in Wroclaw, disinfestation has to carried out in each case of occurrence of a population of rodents in the property.
The fact of carrying out such action is also subject to inspections by the Wroclaw City Guard, and property owners who fail to perform disinfestation on the premises they manage may be punished with fines.
‘Making this effort before the spring period, with its more favourable conditions for the breeding and spread of a pest population, will help to achieve the maximum effectiveness of operations, which is in the interest of all inhabitants,’ stresses Demianowicz.
In order to increase the effectiveness of operations, the City Council decided to prolong the summer disinfestation action in the centre of Wroclaw to three months. As you may also know, throwing leftovers away outside areas designated for that purpose is punishable with a fine in Wroclaw from 18th January 2023. This refers to food products laid out by inhabitants in the area of dustbins or thrown out of windows in order to feed cats, pigeons or other wild animals. Leftovers may be put only in adequate waste containers throughout Wroclaw.
The main reason for the increase of the rodent population is easy access to food, to which inhabitants often contribute by throwing big quantities of food into the rubbish, often outside containers, in order to feed free-living animals, including birds.
How to reduce the occurrence of rats in Wroclaw? Here are some tips
This phenomenon can be countered by using a few simple tips:
- reduce food waste,
- do not throw away waste, particularly food waste, outside waste containers,
- shut waste container lids and keep waste collection points clean,
- maintain order in cellars and storage rooms,
- get rid of large-size waste according to the rules. An old washing machine, a sofa or a wall unit is nothing more than a shelter for rodents.
- If you want to feed free-living animals, including birds, do it responsibly (do not leave food in areas accessible to rodents; in particular, do not scatter food directly on the ground).
Disinfestation is compulsory in real properties where the following facilities are located:
- multi-apartment buildings with a basement;
- eating places with premises under raised floors of restaurant gardens;
- commercial facilities of the food industry;
- food and agricultural produce warehouses;
- agricultural enterprises and breeding farms;
- food processing plants;
- hospitals;
- hotels, boarding houses and dormitories;
- facilities where catering services are provided;
- detached storage units and rooms belonging to multi-apartment development;
- inter-block interiors and waste collection points in multi-apartment development;
- facilities where waste collection or processing services are provided;
- animal shelters;
- the zoo;
as well as:
- a gravitational sewerage system with diameters of up to 500 m, running in geodetic precincts: Gaj, Grabiszyn, Kleczków, Muchobór Mały, Plac Grunwaldzki, South, Popowice, Rakowiec, Old Town, Tarnogaj;
- the entire sewage and combined sewer system in the Old Town area with rainwater wells and gullies;
- telecommunications and district heating wells in the Old Town area;
- premises of the City Moat.
Rules of disinfestation in Wroclaw
At the start of compulsory disinfestation, rat extermination preparations should be laid out. They should be supplemented on a running basis for the disinfestation period or, if rodenticides are still taken, even after its expiration. The collection of the preparation should be monitored on a running basis and removed only if it is no longer taken by rodents.
