When Jan Moulder's cat began bringing home mice, she realised something was amiss in her neighbourhood.
The few rodents quickly became a plague.
"My cat was then absolutely covered in fleas," she said.
"But it wasn't until my husband saw the garage door open at an abandoned house next door that we figured out where the mice and fleas were coming from.
"The garage was full of plastic bags of stinking rubbish. The place was a disgrace."