New neighbors can bring new problems. For a resident in North Brunswick, New Jersey, it meant the arrival of dozens of rats—and the complete destruction of her backyard.
When a food distributor moved into the warehouse behind Kathy Bonilla-Moravasik’s property, she likely thought the results would be similar to the previous tenant, Maltese Iron Works.
However, this company brought with them a load of rats. Now, Bonilla-Moravasik says these rats have made her property unlivable.
Where Did All These Rats Come From?
In a video with over 1.2 million views, Bonilla-Moravasik explains her unfortunate situation.
“Our house, our property, our pool—everything is destroyed by Norway rats,” she says, showing her backyard. For context, Norway rats are the same as brown rats, and are known to carry a variety of pathogens.
The TikToker then shows her yard. The land is filled with holes, and areas that once had grass now have bare dirt.
The culprit? Bonilla-Moravasik claims it’s KGR Distribution, a candy distribution company that she says took over the area’s lease from Maltese Iron Works.
“We never had a problem with Maltese. They kept up their property. We never saw a rodent,” she recounts.
Now, she says, her yard is unusable. This fact makes her deeply emotional.
“I look at this yard now, and it brings tears to my eyes,” she states. “My yard was filled with trampolines and toys and many good memories and times in this pool. And now I’m afraid to be out here. I can’t have my children out here. I can’t have my grandchildren out here. We’ve never been able to grill. We can’t sit out here. I feel awful that my dog has to come out here.”
“This is our new life,” she adds.
How Did This Happen?
According to Bonilla-Moravasik, she was initially told that the new tenant would have to be involved in a “very similar industry that was already there for all those years.”
“Apparently, that wasn’t the case,” she says. “Had I known they were going to put [a] food distribution warehouse right. I think it’s about three feet off our property line; I probably would have sold at the same time.”
While she has attempted to reach out to several relevant agencies, she says that her efforts to date have been fruitless. She also states that she’s added her own traps to the yard, though it has done little to stop the rats.
In the comments section, she says that she’s reached out to news agencies and lawyers, though she claims they’ve shown little interest.
“This is our new existence till we can figure out how to get out of here,” she summarizes. “Because as long as their food source is right here, this will forever be our life.”
What Can This Homeowner Do?
Unfortunately, it seems that there’s little that Bonilla-Moravasik can do beyond what she has already done to attempt to alleviate the situation.
If she has already reported the issue to health inspectors and they have ignored the situation, she can reach out to any local or state agency that may be relevant to the issue. These could include her town’s health department, her county’s Office of Health Services, and even the state’s Department of Health and Department of Environmental Protection.
While this may be discouraging, it seems that some of Bonilla-Moravasik’s efforts are already having an impact. In a follow-up video, she showed that the company appeared to be cleaning up the area around her property line.
For the time being, the TikToker has launched a GoFundMe to cover the costs related to dealing with this rat issue.
Commenters Are Shocked
In the comments section, users were taken aback by the state of the yard, with many urging both the company and local authorities to do more to remedy the issue.
“Just think of the feeding frenzy inside that building on snacks you eat,” said a user.
“I work for a pest control company, to have a MASSIVE food distribution center that close to your home is insane!!” stated another. “And also, that company isn’t getting enough service, they are probably being cheap and doing once a month service. I am SO sorry!”
Some offered more unorthodox solutions.
“Had this problem in my old neighbirhood. A feral cat community was introduced that one of my neighbors cared for. The problem almost 100% disappeared within weeks,” wrote a user. “Some shelters have working cats available for adoption.”
“Forget that. That company needs to buy your house at a fair price so you can relocate,” detailed a second. “There’s no way to ever get rid of rats in that area and they are extremely smart.”
UPDATE: In an email, Marty Miro of KGR Distribution stated the following: “Our warehouse is clean and does not have any rat issues as the neighbor is describing. We are working with our pest control company to make sure there are no issues on our property and any of our neighbors properties. When the neighbor came here to complain we sent the pest control company to service her house and any other house that is complaining and we are paying for the service. We have had middlesex county health inspectors here and NJ state of health here doing walkthroughs and found the warehouse is clean. We do not have any open food here we receive goods in sealed cases on pallets and we ship out in the same fashion. We are part of this community and trying to do our part. We have put out every effort into resolving any issues that the neighbors may be experiencing and covering the cost of the pest control.”
BroBible reached out to Bonilla-Moravasik via TikTok direct message and comment as well as Instagram direct message.