My name is Brianna Hadley, a dedicated certified physician assistant and a mourning dog owner. I have unfortunately found myself at the heart of a growing problem in Madison Heights and neighboring areas—the local rat issue.

It happened on August 26th—a day that forever altered me and my fiance's life forever. Hermes, my 4-year-old American Bully, and my trusted service dog, who was trained in deep pressure therapy to help manage my anxiety, fell victim to this growing rat problem. Losing Hermes was a profound loss, not just for me, but everyone whose lives he touched.

In recent years, Madison Heights has seen a dramatic rise in rat infestations. The local government's efforts have been far from enough to curb this escalating problem. Our beloved pets, similar to my late Hermes, shouldn't be at risk simply due to lack of adequate action.

As a responsible community, we deserve better from our officials. Not just for us, but also for the safety of our pets and the overall public health, as rats can potentially carry diseases like Weil's disease, Salmonella, Rat-bite fever, Leptospirosis, and many more.

I implore the city officials of Madison Heights and the surrounding cities to step it up. We need more robust measures to control the rat population, such as effective pest management strategies and appropriate legislation that supports the eradication of these pests. To help reduce the rat population, the city of Madison Heights was set to spend more than $500,000 to provide each home with trash and recycling carts. This was now pushed back an entire year, which is unacceptable. Madison Heights has been on the news several times before for their rat issue, and as of recently, there is little talk about this growing problem.

We moved back from California to Michigan in 2023 and went to his vet but only for a sick visit, sadly at that time it wasn’t brought to our attention that he had not received this vaccine, even though all of his medical records were provided. He was due for updated DHHP and Rabies vaccine 8/2024. He received these at his appointment on the 22nd of August, 2024- when it was first brought to our attention that he had not received it. Starting Saturday, Herm had lower than normal oral intake however, our dog would frequently fast to keep himself lean and mean (pun intended). On Sunday, he vomited twice, very small amounts I still did not think anything was wrong. When I got off work on Monday, Hermes eyes were yellow. I immediately took him to an emergency vet where he was septic in Acute Hepatorenal Failure. They started him on aggressive IV fluids and gave him broad spectrum antibiotics. His initial creatine was 5.0 with a BUN of 103. I cried and still do at these initial labs, because I know what they meant. He had low urine output, and his kidneys failed in a matter of 36 hours. I had 36 hours to discover my dog was sick, until I had to make the decision to put him down. The veterinary doctor made it clear that Herm was extremely contagious, and he needed to be put in isolation, therefore he had to be almost entirely alone until his final hours- this pains me. The doctor also recommended we go home and clean everything aggressively, and “monitor” ourselves closely. We eventually required prophylactic antibiotics ourselves due to exposure. They even recommended we bleach our sidewalks, not a realistic ask. In regards to why Herm never received this vaccine is another issue that should be addressed. This vaccine isn’t included in the typical bundle out west, as it up north. I’m unsure why as this disease is deadly to both humans and animals- but I have emailed the veterinary associations to question why this is. We would have never refused such an important vaccine had it been offered to us, or education been provided.

After Herms passing, we talked to other local neighbors and discovered that Humans are also dying from this growing rat issue. I learned of a local lady who cleaned out her shed that had been infested with rats- and died a week later.

It's time to act. The lives of our dear pets and our health are on the line. Please, sign this petition to demand substantial action now and protect our community from this escalating rat issue.

Sean Fleming

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