Here is my answer and below it is their answer.
Hello Borough of Saint Laurent,
I agree with you that relocating rats in an outdoor environment is inefficient. That is because removing, whether by lethal or non lethal measures, does not remove the attractants. Every rat removed is replaced through breeding and immigration from other neighbourhoods.
Rodenticides may cause rats to breed more prolifically and replace their populations much faster. This is due to the rats having their families and health compromised quickly.
The main reason for banning rodenticides is for the health of all residents. Rodenticides thin the blood, making it much easier for ticks, fleas, mites, and worms to infest the animal. Thin blood is easier for parasites to drink. For this reason, all the parasite vector diseases you mentioned, and plenty more, are spread even faster when rodenticides are used.
Rodents who consume any rodenticides, whether the anticoagulant used by Saint Laurent, a neurotoxin, intestinal blockage baits, etc, are much slower than other rodents. They are the first rodents to be consumed by predators (raptors, foxes, weasels, mink, etc) and the poison is bioaccumulated. The immune system of animals goes down, the blood flows faster, and mange, bubonic plague, and all sorts of diseases flow through the environment.
And when you bait the sewers, the fishes get filled with rodenticide too, thus poisoning fishes, otters, mink, seals, beluga whales, bald eagles, osprey, and so on and so forth. Traces of rodenticide also ends up in the drinking water.
Regarding the damage caused by rats chewing pipes, it seems counterintuitive to dehydrate rats by haemorrhaging them, thus drawing them towards chewing the pipes in a desperate attempt to quench their thirst. Rats will also chew bricks, because the clay absorbs some of the poison that is in their bodies.
Rodenticides are also incredibly cruel, causing the animals strokes, joint pain, headaches, seizures, respiratory problems, and secondary infections. If you truly want a healthy environment, with healthy people, why make the animals sick and suffer?
Given these facts, the use of rodenticides is the most ineffective method of controlling the rat population here. The pest control companies know this, and make money by selling products that make the problem even worse than it was before.
Responsible waste management, and proper grating on sewers, is the only effective way to manage rats in Saint Laurent. Please take a serious, thoughtful, and compassionate approach to the methods chosen to manage human and wildlife coexistence.
Sincerely,
Nicole Corrado
Source of information: http://www.rodenticidefree.ca/
On Mar 20, 2026, at 10:45 AM, Soutien aux elus ASL <soutien_aux_elus_asl@montreal.ca> wrote:
Hello Mrs Corrado,
The borough of Saint-Laurent is conducting a rat control campaign to manage the rat population by treating up to 500 sewer manholes annually in the fall. The 500 manholes are selected based on the locations of complaints regarding wild rats during the year preceding the operation, the number of years that have passed since the last rat control intervention, as well as the presence of businesses such as restaurants that naturally produce a large amount of organic waste.
The main reason for this initiative by the borough is to protect the health of its residents. Wild rats are vectors for the spread of several diseases that pose a danger to the public, including bubonic plague (Pasteurella pestis), typhoid fever, tularemia (Pasteurella tularensis), salmonellosis, and trichinosis (Trichinella spiralis). Furthermore, rats cause various types of damage, such as damage to electrical and telephone lines or broken pipes.
As you point out, rats reproduce very quickly, making their complete eradication impossible. Consequently, the measures implemented by the borough of Saint-Laurent are primarily aimed at controlling the population within the area and thus preventing overpopulation or infestation.
The use of measures such as cages to capture and release rats in a different environment would ultimately only shift the problem elsewhere. Furthermore, rats transported in this way will compete with local wildlife for resources, which can have a negative impact on those species.
Given these facts, the use of rodenticide is the most effective method for controlling the wild rat population here.
Regarding responsible waste management, the borough has been using wheeled bins as collection tools since 2006. By 2026, wheeled bins will be used to contain all types of waste in Saint-Laurent (household waste, recyclables, organic waste). The use of tightly sealed wheeled bins makes potential food sources inaccessible to wildlife in the Saint-Laurent area.
We understand that this is not the answer you were hoping for, but rest assured that the borough takes a serious and thoughtful approach to evaluating the methods used in this type of operation.
Best regards,
Lise Lacombe B.A.
Responsable Soutien aux Élu(e)s et à la Direction
Direction d'arrondissement
777, boulevard Marcel-Laurin, Saint-Laurent (Québec), H4M 2M7
514 855-6000 poste 4340
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