10/24/2025
I’ve been in this business for 15 years, and I’ve seen some messy properties… but nothing prepared me for this. Walking into this house was like stepping into a horror movie. Cockroaches were everywhere — pouring down from ceilings, crawling along walls, and falling onto our PPE as if the house itself was alive with them. It was relentless, like the ceilings were raining insects. Every breath felt like it carried the stench of decay and infestation.
The kitchen was beyond comprehension. Ten-year-old rotting food coated every surface. Plates, bowls, and countertops were crusted with layers of dried cat food, spoiled leftovers, and unidentifiable gunk. The floors were sticky, grimy, and littered with decades of refuse. Scattered among it all were deceased cats, silent witnesses to years of neglect, alongside a few terrified, malnourished live cats that we had to rescue and rush to a shelter.
Every corner of the house told a story of chaos and neglect. The smell was suffocating — a pungent mix of rot, ammonia, and decay that clung to our clothes and PPE. Walls and ceilings were crawling with cockroaches, some of them so bold they seemed to mock our presence. Working in that environment was exhausting, repulsive, and emotionally overwhelming.
This wasn’t just a cleanout — it was a battle against years of hoarding, decay, and infestation. It reminded me why we do this work, why rescue matters, and why every property has a story that sometimes defies belief. I’ve handled some tough situations in my career, but this one will haunt me forever.
