The owner claimed the dog died as a result of a fall in her alleyway on Brereton Avenue in Cleethorpes, Northeast Lincolnshire. Louise, 59, had to put her dog to sleep after contracting Weil’s disease from one of the rats that attracted the mountain of trash.
Louise, who is disabled, has said the rat infestation has resulted in them settling in her downstairs bathroom, which she can no longer use.
County alleys are the responsibility of the tenants whose homes are back on them.
The mountain of fly dumping is pushed against Louise’s back gate and reaches about four feet. It includes mattresses, rocks, trees and piles of garbage.
Louise told Grimsby Live: “About three years ago when we moved in there was about two feet of trash in the alley and it was all pushing against my back gate.
“I am the last person in the alley, my garden is the last. Whoever is tipping throws it all outside my gate. It broke the lock on my gate and pushed it open – we fixed all that, but since then the garbage has grown about three feet, maybe four feet high. There is brick rubble because the wall supporting the building next to the alley has fallen into the alley. There’s trees in there, mattresses in there, it’s all in there. And the rats have started breeding there, and they have leptospirosis.
“My dog I had when I first moved in caught one of the rats. She didn’t eat it and didn’t bite it, she just caught it. We had to put her to sleep because she contracted leptospirosis, a disease that rats carry that makes you vomit constantly and cause your kidneys to shut down. It really is a terrible disease.”
Leptospirosis is more commonly known as Weil’s disease. Some cases are more serious than others and can be fatal to both animals and humans.
She added: “I’ve seen rats in the yard, I can’t get into the yard. They’ve now invaded the house. The pest control officer who came said he thinks they’re coming in through the sewer. I can’t go down to my bathroom, I can’t even take a bath. Rat poo on my towels. My robe is still in it and it probably has rat urine on it. I’ve got rat poison all over my floor now, so I can’t go in there.”
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Louise went on to say: “When I got in touch with the North East Lincolnshire Council, I was sent from pillar to post for three days. They kept saying it’s not their problem, it’s not their property, it’s not their responsibility is and they don’t get any money for They said they don’t have a dedicated pest control department They told me to call a pest controller in Grimsby It cost me £300 which I can’t afford My son had to pay for it Pay.”
Louise can’t move her scooter down the back alley because it’s overgrown with weeds and piles of flies.
Louise added: “I don’t know what to do. It’s been a week now and I still can’t go to my bathroom. I’ve had to force myself to go upstairs to go to the toilet there, and it’s really hurting my knees. I have several disabilities that prevent me from walking very far. I have spondylosis on the bottom of my back, bulging discs on the top of my spine, and fibromyalgia. I have something wrong with the soles of my feet and I have diabetes. I saved up to buy a scooter and then I couldn’t get it in the back. No one can get in the back, absolutely no one. No one can come from the alley to my gate, it is so full.
“I’ve been pushed from pillar to post and every time they say there’s nothing they can do. They say it’s not their problem – but it’s an environmental health problem. The rats carry a disease that can kill people. If you do that “I don’t want them to tip, put something out there for people to put their trash in.”
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Cllr Ron Shepherd, Portfolio Holder for Safer and Stronger Communities, said: “Alleys are private property and the Council is not responsible for cleaning them up. They belong to the houses that are back on them and they are responsible for their maintenance.
“We sympathize with households that live next to alleys that are plagued by illegal dumping. Earlier this year we launched a new scheme where people can apply for our support in clearing an alleyway.
“This arrangement is now closed, but it is something we may be able to re-run in the future.”
He added: “Councils from other parts of the country have told us they are experiencing similar problems with privately owned alleyways, it is a national problem and not unique to this area. Tipping is illegal. It could be prevented if people dispose of their waste properly. We need strong evidence that will stand up in court to investigate crimes. If someone has seen garbage dumped in the alley or has CCTV footage and is willing to testify to this, we will investigate. We take environmental enforcement seriously and in April and May of this year we issued 18 fixed fines for tipping after enforcement investigations.”