This Montreal resident says counting rats is part of his daily routine

Emmanuel Perez has a daily routine he does with his toddler. Every single morning we pass by there. We use it as an opportunity to practice our counting. And what they're counting on the streets and sidewalks is rats. The highest we've reached in one time was 11. Perez has lived in Park Extension for most of his life. He says he's used to seeing the odd rat or two now and again but this past year they've become much harder to ignore. A little closer you'll just see how dirty some areas could be. As he takes us around the neighborhood he points out what he believes is helping them thrive. Specifically garbage and lots of it. But he says the problem isn't limited to this part of the neighborhood. My sister the other day she said I found another huge rat nest just down the street over here. Did you get a lot of calls from park guides this year? Yeah yeah definitely it's one of the neighborhoods that I would think are more affected. The impact of composting has added a lot of organic matter into the environment. The garbage pickups have been delayed or pushed back. Perez is particularly worried about the rat problem here. This is the route he takes with his daughter to daycare just meters away from where he saw several rats. There are two daycares nearby and a playground just across the street. And it isn't just rats scurrying down the street. Perez has been seeing more dead ones too. I would discourage people from manipulating rats. You know they tend to hang out in areas that are unsanitary so they could be vectors of diseases. The borough says it can't confirm whether the rat population has actually increased in Park Extension. In fact it says complaints about rats has gone down this year. The borough says it's responding with exterminators, traps and targeted cleanup operations while also issuing fines for illegal dumping and garbage left out at the wrong time. But it says residents have also have a role to play pointing to food left on the ground and improper disposed garbage as factors that can attract rats. For Perez this isn't just about rats. It's about raising his daughter in a neighborhood where he grew up and watching it change. It's a little disheartening. I feel left out and neglected by the city. He hopes the borough and other residents will do more to keep the streets clean so his neighborhood looks less like this and more like he remembers it.