Atlanta is home to pests besides just Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis, a study found earlier this month.
Georgia’s capital reported 170 rats or cockroaches for every 100,000 residents in 2021. With those numbers, Georgia’s capital ranked No. 1 in rat or cockroach sightings per 100,000 residents, the pest control company Doctor Sniffs has reportedly found.
Miami, being located in the only part of the continental U.S. with a tropical climate, ranked No. 2 behind Atlanta. Washington, D.C., ranked as the third-most infested locality (It’s built on a swamp, after all!)
In other words, Democrats control two of the three most pest-infested jurisdictions in the nation, with a Republican occupying the mayor’s office only in the tropical Miami.
It gets worse. Blue Team controls not only two of the top three, but also eight or nine of the top 10.
Among the top ten were Dallas, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New York City — the last of which ranked first in rats but only 10th for rats and roaches combined.
A purple jurisdiction — Riverside, California — ranked fifth.
Experts have attributed these infestations not only to perennial factors like density and climate, but also to the local government’s waste management.
“A lot of the responsibility falls on waste management and cleaning up and making sure things are done properly,” a representative for Evans Termite and Pest Control told Atlanta News First.
A spokesperson for Doctor Sniffs reportedly added, “The study highlights the importance of proactive pest control measures to create livable, healthy communities.”
The Horn editorial team