A Bat in a Cleveland House and Who You Call

Which health department do I call about a bat in Cleveland?

Start with the address. The City of Cleveland runs its own public health agency, the Cleveland Department of Public Health, and that agency is the one for a house inside the city. The Cuyahoga County Board of Health describes its own territory as the whole county except the City of Cleveland.

So a house in Lakewood, Parma or Cleveland Heights belongs to the county board, which takes bite and exposure reports at 216-201-2000. Its office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and it lists the same number for after hours.

If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, both rows sit with every department listed for Ohio so far.

What does Cleveland’s health department say about bat contact?

Its rabies page is short and direct. Anyone who has been in contact with a bat should call the department at 216-664-3747. The page says to call even when you cannot tell whether there was a bite or a scratch. The call covers how likely an exposure was and whether vaccination is needed.

A second department page gives the same number for its epidemiologists, for anyone asking whether they need rabies medication after an exposure. Neither page lists hours for the line.

The department’s line is about the person. For the animal, there is separate help on keeping track of one bat inside without touching it.

Where do I report an animal bite in Cleveland?

Bites go to a different office. Both health department pages send bite reports to City of Cleveland Animal Care & Control at 216-664-3069.

What does Cleveland Animal Care & Control handle?

On wildlife, the division’s page names two things a resident can report. An injured wild animal goes to the division at 216-664-3069. A vacant property that is drawing wildlife goes to 311.

The page is as plain about one thing the division does not do. It says it does not remove opossums, and it gives advice on living alongside them instead. Part of that advice is the owner’s own job: fix the holes and gaps that give an animal a way into an attic, a porch, a basement, a garage or a shed.

Who handles a bat colony or a raccoon in a Cleveland attic?

A private operator, hired by the owner. The city offices above take reports and answer health questions. Clearing bats in the attic is removal work, and a raccoon overhead is hired out the same way. An operator inspects and explains the plan on the call.

Ohio Attic Animal Removal is an Ohio referral service run by Local Core Group. It has no crews of its own. A call or a form is passed to an independent operator when one works at your address, and that is settled on the call. The operator sets the price and does the work. State rules apply to trapping and to bat work, and the operator who takes the job answers for them.