‘I’m scared to go to bed at night’: Halifax residents raise concerns about rampant pest problems

Lindsay Eagleson was thrilled to find a newly renovated apartment in Halifax after living in her car for 10 days.

But before she moved her belongings into the building in the Cowie Hill neighbourhood a couple months ago, she realized there was an issue. 

“I noticed a bunch of cockroaches in the kitchen and at first I had no idea what they were and I was just kind of shocked,” said Eagleson.

She was alarmed to find out from online reviews and other residents that the building was known to have a cockroach and mouse infestation.

“My heart dropped … I had just finished living in my car and I moved into this apartment and I was really excited to kind of have a fresh start.”

But the problem isn’t limited to Eagleson’s apartment building.

‘The worst pest that we have’

According to Jesse Roach of Scotia Pest Control, cockroach numbers have exploded in recent years.

“Over the last half-decade, we’ve really seen an incredible increase in calls for them. They seem to be getting into all different walks of life and businesses from rentals to commercial retail to everything in between,” said Roach.

“I would say it’s the worst pest that we have here right now.”

Roach said one factor in the explosion in numbers is that people are not getting ahead of the problem, which can multiply quickly.

Addressing an infestation, he said, requires extensive measures that include moving all appliances, cleaning everything in the infested area and spraying consistently with pesticides. 

After those steps are completed, the area should be continuously monitored for any further infestation, he said. 

Inadequate responses

But according to the leader of a local chapter of the tenants’ advocacy group ACORN Canada, they are not seeing this type of care from landlords and housing companies when they are alerted about infestations. 

“It’s pretty rampant that we have landlords doing kind of like just the very bare minimum of treatments,” said Mariah Baker.

“Like coming in, only treating once, not coming back for the followup treatment to eliminate the new hatches or doing any of the adjacent units and therefore not really eliminating the problem.”

Heather Dunham, who lives on Herring Cove Road, said the municipality should help tenants experiencing those types of situations. She says her building is infested with cockroaches, mice, bedbugs and — sometimes — snakes. 

“The city needs to step in and do something for us. A lot of people can’t afford these apartments, like me, with an autistic child, I’m barely getting by,” said Dunham. 

She said the manager of her building did not spray infested units and only provided her with a piece of plywood and some sticky pads to take care of the problem. 

“I’m scared to go to bed at night because I wake up in the morning, all of a sudden I’m making a cup of tea and it’s everywhere. There’s roaches everywhere and you feel like you don’t want to eat because you’re scared of making a mess because they’ll come after you,” said Dunham. 

CBC reached out multiple times to the owner and manager of Dunham’s building but they did not respond prior to publication.

Both Eagleson and Dunham say people in their buildings are reluctant to speak up.

“A lot of people don’t want to talk about it because they’re scared to get kicked out of their units because they can’t find any place to go. And I’m done being scared,” said Dunham.

Patty Cuttell, a Halifax regional councillor whose district includes both buildings, said in a statement to CBC that complaints were received about both properties and “both are currently under investigation.” 

For Eagleson, the infestation problem has not been remedied. She said spot treatments were undertaken only in specific units but she thinks the whole building needs to be fumigated to quell the infestation. 

“It feels like a losing battle and I think it silences a lot of people because it feels like it’s a lot of energy and effort that goes into having to get fumigated,” said Eagleson. 

Hazelview Properties, which owns Eagleson’s building, said in a statement to CBC that it works with “licensed, experienced pest control professionals and takes both proactive and responsive measures to address pest concerns.”

The statement said the company encourages residents to report any pest issues as soon as they arise.

“It is essential to how we manage these situations effectively. There are no repercussions for reporting a concern, and a resident’s tenancy is not affected in any way by doing so.”

But Eagleson said more needs to be done for her neighbours, herself and her young daughter. 

“I don’t want her to get sick from that. Like that’s really important for me is that she has a safe place to call home.”

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