Stench!

[Buckman]

We live is a small rural village. There is a terrible stench in our neighbourhood and it is enough for my wife to start coughing if she goes outside due to her asthma. It is also not pleasant for me. Another issue is the amount of flies which seems to be unusually high plus of course an abundance of rats. We know exactly where the stench originates. One of the neighbours runs a hedgehog rescue and has well over a hundred hedgehogs. The property where she keeps them is about 10m x 5m large plus a number in her home.
Who are the best people to contact regarding air quality, flies and also rats as cannot take much more of this sitting with clsoed windows on hot days?

 

[RogerL]

Contact the Environmental Health Officer at your local authority

 

[Buckman]

Contact the Environmental Health Officer at your local authority

Thanks as went onto the website and was not sure which option. Also thinking of SPCA due to excessive number of hedgehogs for such a small property.

 

[RogerL]

Thanks as went onto the website and was not sure which option. Also thinking of SPCA due to excessive number of hedgehogs for such a small property.

If you're in Scotland, the name may be different.

 

[Beachball]

I thought it was RSPCA that might be able to advice what to do

 

[RogerL]

I thought it was RSPCA that might be able to advice what to do

RSPCA doesn't operate in Scotland - the SPCA does.

 

[Beachball]

RSPCA doesn't operate in Scotland - the SPCA does.

But does he live in Scotland

 

[RogerL]

But does he live in Scotland

That's why I asked!

 

[Beachball]

That's why I asked!

Well i think he lives in West Midlands

 

[Buckman]

Well i think he lives in West Midlands

Correct.

 

[audiorob]

Can you garner support from other neighbours?
Nuisance smells: how councils deal with complaints - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
came up from a search along with
Air Pollution - Smells (environmentlaw.org.uk)
which may help point you in the right direction.
Hope you can get it sorted!

 

[Buckman]

Can you garner support from other neighbours?
Nuisance smells: how councils deal with complaints - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
came up from a search along with
Air Pollution - Smells (environmentlaw.org.uk)
which may help point you in the right direction.
Hope you can get it sorted!

After going through numerous options and having to do it three times eventually spoke to a human being regarding an environmental issue only to be told that they cannot transfer me to the correct department, but they will pass on the message. Last time we raised the issue, they never bothered to contact us back. Not holding out much hope this time either.

Went one step further as the person in question is a housing tenant and I am sure is not allowed to operate a rescue centre from her home. What a palaver to contact the housing association as they kept referring you back to their website. On going to the website you need to be a tenant to register a complaint. Back on phone and eventually after going through numerous options got into a queue only to be told I was 16 in line. Gave up as they make it very difficult to make a complaint!

Stench this morning is horrendous as it is a lot warmer today and one wants to choke.

 

[audiorob]

You could try a registered letter to the Housing Association signed on delivery so you know it has been received.
Surprised that the RSPCA can't investigate if there is concern over the care of the animals?

 

[Buckman]

You could try a registered letter to the Housing Association signed on delivery so you know it has been received.
Surprised that the RSPCA can't investigate if there is concern over the care of the animals?

We don't think there is an issue with her caring for the animals, but it is the disposal of the waste products that is a concern as that is what is creating the issue. However over 100 hedgehogs on a small property may be a concerned.

Neighbours think that she may have in excess of 200 hedgehogs as she has being doing it for awhile. We ignore the situation until last year when it got ridiculous and contacted her housing association, but nothing happened.

It may be commendable what she is doing, but she is not releasing them back into the wild due to rat issue which she created in the first place Annoyingly our cats are catching rats almost every day and bringing them into the home on occasions.

 

[otherclive]

We don't think there is an issue with her caring for the animals, but it is the disposal of the waste products that is a concern as that is what is creating the issue. However over 100 hedgehogs on a small property may be a concerned.

Neighbours think that she may have in excess of 200 hedgehogs as she has being doing it for awhile. We ignore the situation until last year when it got ridiculous and contacted her housing association, but nothing happened.

It may be commendable what she is doing, but she is not releasing them back into the wild due to rat issue which she created in the first place Annoyingly our cats are catching rats almost every day and bringing them into the home on occasions.

We rescued a hedgehog late last autumn. He only weighed 200 gms so we took it to an RSPCA wildlife center on an old airfield between people Malmesbury and Lechlade. They took it in and asked if we would like it back in the spring as they prefer to release in the area they were first caught. Sure enough we got him back at a heathy 600 gms and released him into the garden. With our neighbours we have hedgehog holes in the corners of the gardens, and away he went totally ignoring the feeding station and hedgehog house I had made.

 

[Beachball]

We also had a hedgehog visit our garden but he lives in the neighbour garden i put him back in there our short leg jack russell like to play with them so between the neighbour we went halves and put some mesh fencing it to keep them out and for there safely so far it has worked .

 

[Thingy]

I would take this step by step. You may laugh but try your parish council first. They may surprise you. After that your local councillor and write to the housing association. Its harder to ignore a letter as there is a paper trail then. Of course write to environmental health too.

 

[Buckman]

write to the housing association. Its harder to ignore a letter as there is a paper trail then. Of course write to environmental health too.

Left messages also completed the message boxes on both websites yesterday. Now it is wait and see. Stench today is enough to make you want to vomit.

 

[Buckman]

Housing association advised that they would be visiting her so she cleared up everything and farmed out hedgehogs and got rid of a load of rubbish. Actually 3 big skips. Downside is that we got invaded by rats for awhile.
Association visited and they had hardly left when she start moving all the stuff back into her home and back garden.
t is now the cooler months, but over the past week the amount of flies has been horrendous. We had up one of those fly catcher hanging strips and with 2-3 days it was full again.
Not happy, but at least no stench at present.

 

[Beachball]

Housing association advised that they would be visiting her so she cleared up everything and farmed out hedgehogs and got rid of a load of rubbish. Actually 3 big skips. Downside is that we got invaded by rats for awhile.
Association visited and they had hardly left when she start moving all the stuff back into her home and back garden.
t is now the cooler months, but over the past week the amount of flies has been horrendous. We had up one of those fly catcher hanging strips and with 2-3 days it was full again.
Not happy, but at least no stench at present.

I hope it keeps improving for you but (i have made a note when we are on our break take plenty of fly spray)