"RAT WEEK" WANTED IN AUCKLAND

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22372, 8 April 1938, Page 15

"RAT WEEK" WANTED IN AUCKLAND

* CONCERTED DRIVE AGAINST PBST (THE PRESS Special Service.! AUCKLAND. April 7. A suggestion that an “Auckland rat week” should be held during the coming winter so that by a concerted effort the rat pest might be effectively dealt with, was contained m a letter from an Auckland firm presented at a meeting of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce Council. The letter said that the attention of the firm had been drawn to the amount of destruction caused by rats in England. “In England after the war. town and countryside were ridden with rats front end to end,” the letter said. “Within a year they were reduced to normal numbers by 21 national and local rat week. If rats are attacked by everyone there is no safe haven for them, but under normal conditions, as soon as one property owner attacks them they merely move next door and continue their depredations.” ■ The firm asked if it would be feasible for the Chamber of Commerce to get local bodies to combine in holding an Auckland rat week during the coming winter, as there were more rats in buildings during that time. Each local body could provide a small sum to cover advertising and the cost <- - poison. Posters could also be displayed on trams announcing the week chosen. . , , .. . It was decided to send a letter to the Auckland City Council.