Rats the size of cats driven into Halifax neighbourhood

Blasting work at the Halifax Shipyard is making life rough for people living in the north-end Halifax community of Mulgrave Park.

The noise from the shipyard is just part of the problem. People who live in the area also believe the work is driving rats and other pests into the public housing community.

Debi Upshaw, who lives in the neighbourhood, said she has had enough.

"It's been rough here. The blasting has brought out rats and raccoons around our area. The blasting has taken pictures off my walls and broken them. It's hard living on Barrington Street right now," she said.

"One morning I got up to go in my yard to shoo a cat out of my yard and the thing turned around and it was a rat and it wasn't afraid of me. So I had to go back into my house to get a broom to shoo it out of my yard. It was big. I thought it was a cat, I really did think it was a full-grown cat and it just turned around and its teeth — it was horrible."

Upshaw said life in the community is not how it used to be.

"It gets you up so early in the morning, the ground rumbles, there are holes being created by our units and the animals are coming out, it's awful," she said.

Upshaw said she understands that Irving has the right to build on their property but she doesn't think it should be at her community's expense.

"I hope [Irving is] concerned about what’s going on in our community with the blasting and all the noise and all the rats and raccoons. Our children are afraid to play outside most of the time," she said.

The noise and vermin have forced people in the Mulgrave Park neighbourhood to keep their windows and doors closed amidst warm summer temperatures, said Upshaw.