Rats! Some Charleroi residents dealing with unwanted visitors

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Several Luella Avenue residents claim to be having an invasive rat problem in their homes.
During a Charleroi agenda meeting Wednesday, several residents addressed council regarding the rodent problem, which they claim has gotten worse in recent weeks.
Ryan Massaro said he has lived in a duplex in the 100 block of Luella Avenue for nearly five years. He believes the rats are coming from an abandoned house across the street.
Council confirmed the homeowner died several years ago and the house has been vacant ever since.
Massaro said it has not only created a rat problem for neighbors on the street, but has become a safety hazard as the roof is leaking, weeds and brush are continuing to grow and the second floor appears to be falling into the lower level.
“I can sit on my porch at night and watch the rats running from the house,” he said.
In the past two weeks, he said he has killed four rats in his basement and found two more dead on his property.
“One of which, my dog attempted to eat and got very sick from,” he said.
Another neighbor experiencing the same problem in the other half of the duplex has two young children and two puppies in their home, Massaro said.

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