Warnings to restaurants, pet owners as rat numbers surge on Sydney’s north shore

A sharp rise in the number of rats roaming through Sydney’s north shore has prompted a local council to investigate increased control measures as new figures show restaurants across the region have been fined due to rodents lurking in their venues.

Control measures to address the north shore’s rat population have been placed in the spotlight.

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An explosion in the number of rats roaming through streets on Sydney’s north shore has prompted a local council to step up eradication measures as local pest management companies report instances of rodents “jumping on to the back” of food trucks and measuring up to the size of possums.

Concerns over the spread of deadly diseases and hygiene risks for the region’s restaurant scene has prompted Willoughby Council to investigate new measures to bring the region’s rat problem under control.

Local councillor Lynne Saville said growing reports of rats in the Chatswood and Artarmon area has sparked fears over diseases including outbreaks of leptospirosis – a bacterial infection resulting in the death of seven dogs across Sydney last year.

One of the many rats roaming the streets of Sydney.

Already this year, veterinarians on the lower north shore have confirmed at least one case of leptospirosis - which can be spread through water contaminated with rat urine – in St Leonards, promoting calls for pet owners to ensure animals are vaccinated.

While businesses across Chatswood recently celebrated the Chinese Year of the Rat, local restaurants have taken a starkly different view of the undomesticated rodent due to potential hygiene risks for their businesses.

Latest figures by the NSW Food Authority show two businesses in the local government area were each fined $440 over the last 12 months for rodent problems inside their venues.

Infestations have been reported in suburbs including Chatswood.

Willoughby Council said its current rat control program involves contractors placing bait stations in known rat hot spots.

The council said it was now in the process of investigating additional control programs including rodent baiting systems that do not involve poison.

“Environmental health officers will also work with owners and residents in private property sites to develop appropriate baiting programs, and issue orders for action where warranted,” the council said.

North Sydney Pest Management director Clayton Whiteley, who has been working in the sector for 30 years, said rat hotspots on the north shore reported by residents included North Sydney, the Military Rd corridor and waterways in Waverton.

“You get surges – there was a wave in Willoughby and at the moment Cammeray and Crows Nest is the worst area because of the number of restaurants in those areas,” he said.

Vets in Sydney have raised concerns over leptospirosis – a disease spread by rats – found in pets.

“(The rats) are getting bigger and bigger, especially around waterways, and I kid you not I’ve seen some the size of possums jumping into the back of McDonalds trucks to reach the bread – they’re huge.

“The northern beaches is another problem area but we’re getting call-outs all across Sydney.”

The council said the rise in rat numbers was partly due to the warmer Spring weather but was not understood to have been linked to increased waste generated by households since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Recent estimates have placed the city’s rat population between 500 million and a billion rodents.

Willoughby councillors are due to debate additional control measures at a meeting tonight.