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Revere residents and city officials looking at fix for rodent problem

REVERE, Mass. — The city of Revere is in a battle against a colony of rats, and the community is ramping up its efforts to solve the problem.

Residents in the city are fed up as rats continue to create issues in the area, and city officials are on the same side.

"They tear your barrels up, they get into engines of your car, they poop all over the place," Revere resident Damien Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said the issue stems from ongoing construction in the city, playing a role in rustling the rats out of the woodwork.

"I’ve seen them take a little bit of dirt, and 3 weeks later, they’ll have a pile that looks like there’s a body under there," Hutchinson said.

Revere Council President Anthony Zambuto said the rats' biggest attraction is people's trash.

"Look at other places in the country," Zambuto said. "Look at New York City, you could ride those rats over there. No one of us wants to have our residents live amongst rats, myself included."

Now, there's a new tactic being proposed to stop the influx of rats, and it'll cost about $150,000.

Revere's Superintendent of Public Works Paul Argenzio says the real dirty work will be done by four pest control companies hired this week. The groups will descend on areas of the city with the greatest concentrations of rat complaints.

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City officials are saying the only real way to win in this battle is through eliminating all food sources from the rat population.

They ask everyone to make sure their trash is sealed, and every bit of food is disposed of properly.