Disturbing video shows dogs locked in cramped kennel in Blackpool back garden as rats scurry around
“It really disgusts me.”
A disturbing video shows rats scurrying around a Blackpool back garden in broad daylight as two Spaniel dogs, locked in a kennel, watch the rodents gnaw at their wooden home.
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The footage - filmed by a disgusted neighbour of the property on Fitzroy Road - has been passed onto the RSPCA and a complaint made to the council. The mother of two young children said her youngsters had been unable to play in their back garden for weeks due to their fear of the vermin.
And she has had to keep her own dogs - a Yorkshire terrier and Jack Russell - inside, scared they could be bitten by the rats.
She has complained about the dogs being kept outside in the makeshift kennel all day and night to the RSPCA and she has alerted the council to the rat problem. But a fortnight on, she is angry that nothing has been done to help the dogs or solve the rodent problem..
She said: "It really disgusts me. I look out of the window and all I can see are the rats running around. It makes me feel sick. In the past he has kept chickens and pigeons and they attracted rats, but it was not as bad as this. The weather has been really nice recently, but I haven't been able to let the children play outside.
Rats bite and carry diseases and I don't want to put them at risk. When I contacted the RSPCA about the dogs, I was told this was an emergency, but, to my knowledge, no one has been out to see him. I hate to see animals suffering like this. They need exercise, not being left locked up all day."
The woman - who asked not to be identified - said the neighbour also had other dogs which lived in the semi-detached he shares with his wife. In a series of videos she posted online, rats are seen crawling out from under the dog kennel before scurrying around the garden looking for food.
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At one point at least 10 adult and baby rats can be seen with some of them gnawing away at a wooden shed and the kennel itself. Both dogs in the kennel watch as the vermin pour out from under them.
On Friday, she said the man has started to clean-up the priority. She said: "He has been using a pressure washer to clear away rubbish and rats' mess and the smell is horrible. I've had to close the windows."
The RSPCA and Blackpool Council have both been approached for comment.