A tenant with disabilities living in a council flat reveals her ongoing struggle with a rodent infestation that nearly cost her dog its life when it consumed four deceased mice. Despite a year passing, the issue remains unresolved.
Sharon Pocock, age 48, relocated to the Lydstep flats close to Cardiff’s city center with her son and four-year-old dachshund, George, in October 2024.
Not long after settling in, chaos ensued as George ingested four dead mice, just days after council workers discovered them while replacing the kitchen doors in Pocock’s residence.
“Upon moving in, I was aware that the place required significant repairs,” Sharon, who deals with respiratory issues, shared with the Daily Mail.
She recounted, “When the workers dismantled a kitchen unit, they uncovered four dead mice, a layer of droppings two inches deep, and a pool of urine. The bathroom was in a similar condition.”
Photos provided to the Mail illustrate the appalling state of the kitchen, with lifeless mice and heaps of droppings scattered across the floor.
Yet Ms Pocock was told by members of Cardiff Council that someone would be back to inspect the issue in four to five working days. A period during which George, her dog, came moments from death.
‘I couldn’t believe they’d told me it would be that long. I had dead mice and rat poison in my kitchen, I couldn’t wait five days,’ she fumes.
Sharon Pocock’s Dachshund George came within minutes of death last year after swallowing four dead mice at her council-owned flat in Cardiff
Only a couple of days before the incident, council workers had visited the premises and said there was little they could do to help (The mice and their droppings are pictured)
The dire state of Ms Pocock’s kitchen in March 2025 is laid bare in pictures shared with the Mail
‘Hours later, George walked past me with a grin on his face, the sort of smirk when you know he’s done something wrong. I went to check the kitchen and my heart just dropped, he’d eaten all of the mice.
‘I just instantly panicked. The PDSA told me we needed to bring him in urgently. If he wasn’t treated within 45 minutes, they told me he could die. The dog is like one of my children. I can’t describe the feeling.’
George was rushed to the vets by Ms Pocock’s sister, where he had his stomach pumped and was given medication.
Luckily he pulled through – only just – before spending the rest of the week seriously ill.
In the aftermath of the incident, Ms Pocock says the local council agreed to refurbish her flat and, crucially, identify and close possible entry points for the rodents.
But almost a year to the day since the traumatic ordeal, Ms Pocock’s rodent hell persists – and the infestation appears to have spread.
‘The last couple of weeks there’s been a disgusting smell in the hallway,’ she says.
‘Like rotten eggs, and it’s got worse and worse. The last four or five days, it’s been so bad that it’s been penetrating my home. I even thought it could be a dead body.
‘The police visited and found two dead rats next door. I’ve seen mice in my flat too. They’re everywhere, the drainage, the pipes. Everywhere. They are all over the place, breeding and breeding.’
It’s left Ms Pocock fearing a repeat of the incident which almost saw her beloved George pass away.
She said: ‘The dog is like my protector. He’s not just a pet, he’s like one of my children. I’m his human and the thought that anything could happen to him because of this, it’s unbearable.’
She is calling on the Labour-run council to invest in a bid to eradicate the block of flats, situated in Gabalfa, of its rat infestation.
Recladding works on the flats were completed two years ago in the wake of the Grenfell disaster, though the construction took some four years to finish.
During that period, residents complained of dire living conditions due to damp and mould.
Ms Pocock is urging the Labour-run Cardiff Council to invest in a bid to eradicate the Lydstep flats (pictured) of its rodent infestation
‘You can’t polish a turd,’ Ms Pocock says while recalling the work done on the block’s exterior.
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council told the Mail of the ordeal: ‘After reports of rodents at the property, the Council arranged pest control treatment.
‘Visits took place on 9th June 2025, when bait was put down in the kitchen, and again on 18th June 2025. At the second visit there were no signs that the bait had been eaten, so more bait was placed in other areas.
‘A further visit on 25th June 2025 found no signs of rodent activity, and the tenant confirmed there had been no problems during the treatment period. The case was then closed.
‘The property was visited again this month, when fresh signs of rodents were found, including droppings in the boiler cupboard. Traps have now been set in the kitchen, bathroom, hallway and storage cupboards, with a follow‑up visit planned for 7th April.
‘Alongside the pest control work, the council’s repairs team has also been to the property to seal holes and gaps that could allow rodents to get in.’
