Hanover Apartment Taken Over by Rats

A mother and her 10-year-old daughter lived several months in a filthy two-room apartment in the company of more than 100 rats, said German police on Monday. The police were alerted to the situation after neighbors complained of a strong smell of excrement coming from the apartment in Hanover. When the tenant opened her door to the police on Saturday, they were greeted by a swarm of flies. Inside the apartment police officers found cages containing guinea pigs, rabbits and parrots, and the floors were covered in faeces. One of the rooms, which was originally the little girl's, was inhabited by rats. "My colleagues didn't open the door to the second room because the rats would have come running out," said police spokeswoman Petra Holzhausen, adding that veterinary specialists were currently eradicating the rodents from the apartment. Holzhausen said the woman had clearly lost control of the situation. "In the beginning she just kept a few rats, but they bred out of control." The woman admitted to continuing to feed the rodents over the last six months.