When a Florida woman shopping at her local Super Walmart saw a large rat in the meat case, stampering across the shrink-wrapped packages, she knew that no one was going to believe her. She insisted on snapping a photo with her mobile phone. “[I] told my mom I wasn’t leaving without one,” she told a local news station.

The woman also described watching employees attempt to catch a second rat near the checkout using a broom and a cardboard box. What’s strange, though, is that past inspection reports don’t show any signs of rodents in the store. Those reports are public records, and one would think that rodents scampering over the food displays would attract state inspectors’ attention. Nope. Must have been a new infestation.

Walmart, for its part, is taking the situation very seriously. They issued a statement to Bay News 9:

This is unacceptable and we take matters like this seriously. We have dedicated resources to ensure our customers can feel confident knowing we are committed to providing safe, quality food. We are monitoring the issue closely and actively working with our third party pest control company and Department of Agriculture to help prevent this from happening again.

Glad to hear that they’re being proactive. We have to wonder, though: would the customer’s complaint have been taken as seriously without photographic proof?

Exclusive: Rat scurries across meat at local Walmart [Bay News 9]

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