With respect to the rats, in Toronto the idiots at city hall decided 10 years ago to charge homeowners for garbage pickup based on the size of bin they have, they also reduced garbage pickup to once a week. The end result is that garbage languishes on properties for longer, cheapskate residents choose the small bin which holds very little and instead throw trash in the recycling bins, park bins, street corners or wherever they can get rid of it for free. The result is stinking bins that get devoured by racoons, rats and squirrels. Toronto is becoming a slimy dirty city as it becomes more dense. Even the sewer grates give off much worse smells than in the past as the sewers are running full from all the new people and buildings going up. It's turning into a real cesspool.