The evolution of PestProofLondon began when I encountered the problem of rodent infestations whilst undertaking basement and building projects in London.
Our company investigated all aspects of the construction and fabric of a building, giving a unique perspective at basement level and enabled us to complete our remit of drainage works.
During this process we encountered rodent burrows and rat droppings within the drainage and the basement. I was intrigued as rats seemed so clever. I noticed how they lived and acted and was touched by the maternal instincts of the mums I saw. I also was starkly aware that they could not stay where they were.
In order to try and work out how we might solve rodent problems that seemed to start from the drains, the rats’ preferred habitat, I approached a pest control specialist who helped me understand their behavior, living arrangements and society.
Pestprooflondon was born pretty much accidently as a result of that initial conversation, as we agreed that if we were going to explore this, we wanted to find a solution where we could offer a guarantee, which other pest control companies cannot supply. That person is now my partner!
We spent a lot of time combining our knowledge – mine of a drainage engineer and his of pest control expert and we then looked at developing materials and methods which are pioneering, but effective.
So I guess we were not really your stereotypical pest controllers from the start!
We acknowledge that rat infestations must be eradicated from properties, but I was quietly determined to investigate alternative methods because my view is that rats are mammals, and in some cases pets to people, and I could not endorse killing them for financial gain.
It was an experience one day whilst working in Islington, with our company only a few months old, that our direction was confirmed.
We attended a survey using cameras in the drains, as a start to identify the entry point and solving this long term infestation. The tenants showed us a video of three juvenile rats, shrieking on a sticky board and they were put in a commercial bin whilst still alive. I found this so distressing that I climbed into the bin and managed, after some time, to release them.
The drive home with my partner was difficult! We discussed the future of our company. He said I was the worst pest controller ever and that our company would never succeed and we would lose potential commercial contracts if I kept behaving like that!
The experience hardened my resolve. This was happening all over the country and whilst I could not do anything about the animals harmed outside of my control, I absolutely could work to find a solution to prevent it from happening on my watch.
So our research continued, I learned that it was actually illegal to release trapped rats and we introduced humane traps to our process and we started testing the products we had found worked. We now have a perfected, tried and tested, non-lethal effective solution to the problem of rodents in home and businesses.
Our dream is that our methods will be duplicated by other companies and become the norm. We hope to encourage our industry to try new, pain-free innovative methods and continue research into these amazing animals who are true survivors in our urban environments.
We will make our system available to others – competition is healthy and we want to spread the message that we can move forward with solutions that do not involve harming them or the environment.
Today our company continues to provide humane pest control solutions, pursuing our ethos of inspiring positive change, whilst providing a guarantee to our clients of a permanent solution to the problem of rodent infestations.