-Caveat Lector- >From http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,767938,00.html
Lurking in your litter: horror movie warns of Britain's rising tide of rats Campaigners target fast food consumers with shock message James Meikle, health correspondent Friday August 2, 2002 The Guardian The fast food-eating litter louts blamed for helping to send Britain's rat population soaring to an estimated 60 million are being subjected to an advertising campaign designed to scare them into changing their ways. Cinemas today begin showing a 30-second advertisement that begins with the rapacious rodents scratching, scuffling and scoffing the cast-off remains from human meals thrown thoughtlessly away and ends with a couple, sleeping soundly in their double bed, unaware of a group of rats boldly ensconced on their duvet. The shock tactics are designed to alert the public to the consequences of Britain's blossoming love affair with fast food and halt the explosion in the rat population. "You are never more than 10 feet from a rat" may be a common expression already, but anti-litter campaigners believe too many people think the pests are at a safe distance in the sewers or shadows. The campaign coincides with moves by environmental health officers to work with colleagues worldwide and the World Health Organisation in assessing the international threat posed by rats which have through the centuries carried terror, death, pestilence and economic disaster to millions. Professionals trying to stem the damage to undergound pipes and electric cables and the food prepared in restaurants and hotels, and quantify the risk to public health believe such concentrated analysis will persuade governments to act more boldly in tackling the problem. The evidence might take three years to produce. Mild winters and cutbacks in pest control expenditure have also been blamed for the increased problems. So have the consequences of privatising council services and water provision, although there is a national protocol that is meant to overcome ambiguities about where the rat control responsibilities lie. Defects in underground drainage are said to be responsible for much of the infestation. Private water companies are accused of reducing rat baiting in sewers and there is a widespread belief that rats are becoming resistant to the most widely used baits. Local pest control services now tend to respond to complaints rather than take pre-emptive strikes. Increasingly they charge to get rid of rats, thus helping to discourage public or firms from reporting problems, even though they are legally bound to under legislation dating from 1949. The new short film will soon be on TV screens too, punctuated by captions: "The more you drop, the more we eat", "the more we eat, the more we breed" and "the more we breed, the closer we get". Football fans watching stadium screens will see the hard-hitting advertisement during the six-week, �200,000 campaign. The message is targeted at 18-24-year-olds, particularly young men, thought to be most to blame for the burgeoning piles of street rubbish that attract the pests. Research for the Keep Britain Tidy campaign suggests as many as 5.9 million Britons, some considerably older than the target audience, would be impervious to attempts to fine or name and shame them for littering. Keep Britain Tidy's director, Sue Nelson, said: "Most people never give a second thought about dropping rubbish, believing life is too short to care about what happens to your trash and that someone from the council will clean it up anyway. "But every bit of food that is on the ground is a potential next meal for a rat. What we are asking is, how close do you want them to get before you use a bin? The rat population is on the rise and soon it will be as common to see a rodent on our street as it is to see a dog or cat." Keep Britain Tidy says one in five streets is strewn with fast food litter and is working with government and the food industry to introduce a code of practice. McDonald's UK, which claims to feed more than 2.5 million Britons a day, welcomed the advertising campaign. The company carries out litter patrols, sponsors waste bins and organises litter-related competitions with schools and community groups: "Litter is unfortunately a social problem caused by a minority of individuals. We believe by educating children, the adults of tomorrow, it will be possible to reverse this careless trend." But experts in trying to control pests believe many fast food outlets, often just local franchises, have little motivation to be so active, even if a code of practice is likely to lead to a crackdown on illegal vendors who fail to provide bins. 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