Casino dealers wear flea collars to combat a pest.
SkyCity casino's carpet has become so riddled with fleas that some staff have resorted to wearing flea collars - and the gaming area has to be regularly sprayed to kill the bloodthirsty pests.
The Auckland casino sprays the carpet twice a week - and more if staff demand
it - but workers say more needs to be done, starting with temporarily shutting the gaming floor and unleashing proper fleabombs.
One dealer said he and other workers had resorted to wearing flea collars on their ankles to ward off the pests.
"It's really, really horrible," he said. "It's a really big problem, especially if you're allergic to things like that. I have brought fleas home, and they've infested the bedroom and bottom floor of my house. They get into my socks at work, everywhere."
Other sources said the fleas loved the warmth of the casino's carpet and gaming machines for breeding.
The dealer said the spray and collars only partly worked - he was still bitten every few weeks - and accused the casino of not treating the problem seriously enough. Although many staff had been bitten, he said, some did not officially complain for fear of being black-marked.
A SkyCity spokeswoman said yesterday the company had an active "pest management programme to deal with such things as flea infestations". The company said it had not been made aware of any recent problems.
