ROCHESTER, Wash. (AP) -- Authorities say a woman has been found living with hundreds of rats and four malnourished snakes in a home outside Rochester.
Thurston County Animal Services Director Susanne Beauregard says an official from the Area Agency on Aging alerted authorities about a month ago, but the woman has been uncooperative. She says the woman calls the rats her friends.
On Wednesday a search warrant was obtained and officers found the floor covered with rat droppings and the carpets soggy with rat urine. Beauregard says two malnourished boa constrictors, a corn snake and a king snake were seized from cages.
Investigators believe the woman bought some rats to feed the boa constrictors, but they got loose and filled the house with their offspring.
Thurston County Animal Services Director Susanne Beauregard says an official from the Area Agency on Aging alerted authorities about a month ago, but the woman has been uncooperative. She says the woman calls the rats her friends.
On Wednesday a search warrant was obtained and officers found the floor covered with rat droppings and the carpets soggy with rat urine. Beauregard says two malnourished boa constrictors, a corn snake and a king snake were seized from cages.
Investigators believe the woman bought some rats to feed the boa constrictors, but they got loose and filled the house with their offspring.
