After recently moving into a new apartment, a mother in Washington, DC recorded a disturbing sight: A rat had seemingly wormed its way into her cabinets and microwave.
Posted by TikTok user Moyoni1990 (Donna Williams), Donna shared a multi-part video series of the rat making noise in her kitchen. She shares her worry for her children’s safety, one of whom is just two months old.
The disturbing footage shows that Donna slotted two ends of a broom between cabinet doors, blocking off the rat’s escape. Meanwhile, she gives commentary as the rat is heard rattling inside the microwave.
In the caption of her video, she states the rental office was notified two months prior, but “still no one came to do ANYTHING about it.” To Donna, the noise the rat(s) were making was so loud, it could have been mistaken for a “robbery.”
More importantly, she fears the holes are only going to give the rat(s) further access to her apartment. Donna admits she had to stick her son in a room with the door closed for protection while she spoke with a concierge (and scolding the staff for not taking her initial call “serious”).
In a follow-up video, Donna is seen speaking with a worker for the building. By this point, the rat inside her kitchen has been exterminated, but she’s worried more will return without the hole being patched. She shares a picture of the dead rat and it’s fairly large.
Donna requests aid from viewers via GoFundMe
Viewers shared their disgust on Donna’s TikTok video, looking on in horror at her predicament. This led to several commenters online urging Donna to find some way of breaking her lease and move out. Some argued the very fact the rat(s) are there to this degree should be enough to deem the apartment an unsafe living space and, therefore, grounds for leaving her lease easily.
TikTok user Courtneygrace laid it plainly for Donna: Once rats make a hole, they’ll make more, if they haven’t already. “It’s [an] inhabitable living situation and put your rent in rent escrow. Don’t pay rent,” Courtneygrace wrote, calling Donna’s situation “unacceptable.”
“IT SOUNDS BIG OMG,” one viewer wrote. Others spoke of the disease the rats could carry and spread, which is especially dangerous given that Donna has a newborn. In the comments, she shared that she had just moved out of a shelter in April, only to move into this mess.
While plenty of viewers warned against using the microwave, some shared a more wild idea: Just turn on the microwave. “In the microwaveeeeee 😳 I’ll turn tht bihh on 😂😂😂,” said one TikTok user. And afterwards, demand a new microwave from the landlord.
