Rat control will require action by both residents and the city

According to the city Health Department, inspectors saw 63 fewer rat complaints in 2025 than in 2024. Although the department has generally seen rodent activity increase year over year, it’s optimistic that this year’s cold winter and heavy snows may have helped further curb Waltham’s rat population.

Still, in a presentation to the City Council, department leaders insisted that addressing the city’s rat problem would take collaboration between multiple departments, as well as significantly more resident buy-in — otherwise, their efforts are like “taking buckets to the ocean.”

“This is not just a city problem. It’s a resident problem as well. It’s how people store their trash,” emphasized Health Director Michelle Feeley.

Feeley, along with Deputy Health Inspector Tommy Creonte and City Engineer Robert Winn, attended the City Council’s Economic and Community Development Committee meeting this week to talk rat strategy. Councilors invited them to give updates on the city’s rat extermination efforts and needs in advance of budget season; the committee also anticipates hearing from Building Inspector Brian Bower and Director of Public Works Michael Chiasson in upcoming weeks about rat mitigation in their respective departments.

Creonte told councilors the Health Department primarily sets “snap traps” to catch rats around the city. He said the traps are expensive, but they work, albeit not very well, especially when placed along public ways such as sidewalks instead of near food sources. He said carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide treatments can be much more effective strategies in places like parking lots, but can’t be used directly beside residences.

In a letter, the Health Department recommended the city not spend its funding on exterminators; instead, it suggested the city should invest more heavily in preventative strategies such as hiring a full-time city pest control expert, raising fines for incorrect garbage disposal, providing city-approved garbage bins, and collecting trash multiple times a week in areas like the South Side that have been hit heavily by rats. Creonte also said that limiting chicken coops, or at least requiring Health Department inspections and approval for them, could reduce rat activity.

Feeley indicated that the Health Department still has funding available for its rat mitigation efforts. The department is requesting more resources, however, in the form of a full-time office administrator. The letter emphasized that records of inspections and tickets are kept by hand and not centralized, making it difficult to track trends in rodent activity.

The letter also recommended the city approve use of rodenticides in limited areas of city property. City Engineer Winn added that the city is still using rodenticide-based traps in some capacities, and contractors may be using them even more often. He indicated that the engineering department uses bait traps around sewer manholes, which it checks weekly and only installs rodenticide if the inspections indicate rodent activity around the traps.

Ward 5 Councilor Joey LaCava emphasized that the council has been discussing rat activity for many years. “From the last 40 minutes, everyone seems like they’re on the same page,” he said. “[But] we tiptoe, we talk about doing some real changes, but it never really happens. We don’t do anything to solidify it.”

To actually make progress, he argued, the council needs to make more significant — and potentially unpopular — decisions. He suggested buying city garbage bins, which he said might save the city money on its garbage contracts, putting more responsibility on residents for managing trash, and allowing the use of rodenticide on city property.

Other councilors asked about where and how the city could implement multiple weekly trash pickups and a central composting program. Feeley told them the Public Works department would be able to give more useful insight on those issues.

“We have to do this together. Don’t just rely on the city to take care of it,” Feeley emphasized to residents.

Still, she said, despite her desire to see more engagement with and ownership of the issue from residents, her department tries to work collaboratively with people who get citations for improper garbage disposal to encourage education and better planning for the future. “What we like to do is work with people. We’ll say to them, ‘Take that $50, get a [trash] barrel — we’ll make that [fine] disappear,’” she said.

The rat problem caught the attention of the NBC10 Boston news team in this segment aired on May 4, 2026.