'We're outnumbered': Why Chicago is losing the war on rats

Editor's note: This story was produced by the Illinois Answers Project, an investigations and solutions journalism news organization, and Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit newsroom focused on Chicago's neighborhoods, in partnership with WGN Investigates.

By Casey Toner and Mina Bloom

Illinois Answers Project and Chicago Block Club

Before moving into an apartment in Ukrainian Village last May, Liz Murray asked her new landlord if the vintage building had any rat problems.

The landlord assured her the six-flat, built in the early 1900s, was free of rodents, adding that pest control "routinely checks" for signs of infestations.

Months later, Murray found out none of that was true.

Murray is hardly alone. An investigation by the Illinois Answers Project and Block Club Chicago shows that since the beginning of the pandemic, record rat complaints have overwhelmed city services. The city's resources are stretched thin, and so many residents have complained that the city's Inspector General's office is auditing the Bureau of Rodent Control.

Last year, Chicagoans made more than 50,000 rat complaints, a slight decline from the prior two years but still significantly more complaints than in recent years, according to data from the city's 311 call center.

For the full story, go to illinoisanswers.org.