Finding one rodent in your home can be a nightmare..but what about finding hundreds?
One Florida woman’s house in St. Petersburg is infested with them…but she says she loves them…some were even her pets. When you walk into Florine Brown’s house, it’s obvious something is wrong. Holes are in the furniture, a foul odor fills the air…and there’s rats…lots and lots of rats.
Florine Brown, the homeowner said, “It got really out of control, but I still wanted to keep them.”
Brown loves these rodents. She started with three back in 20-12…but they escaped and multiplied. Now there are around three hundred and you can find them behind every nook and cranny. Brown said, “I didn’t think of it as a big deal or a problem. I still don’t, but it really got out of hand.”
A family member called local animal rescue groups, and little by little, they’re going to safely remove them. The process could take a month to complete. Brown said, “I love them. I have deep compassion for them.”
Neighbors had tried to warn her to stop the rodents from mating. Sharron Fouratt said, “If you leave them loose and they breed quickly, you know that’s what happens.” Already about seventy rats have been removed in the past few days, but there’s a lot more work to do.
Brown said, “I just want them to go to good homes.”
And hopefully that will bring her life back to normal. Officials from rescue groups are working to capture the rats and find them new homes. Brown will not face any criminal charges for letting her home become infested.
