A FAMILY were horrified to discover an animal graveyard in their back garden after moving into a new home. Andrew Hatton and partner Lana were hit with a stench of dog urine soon after they began living at the home with their two young kids. The dad cleaned the house in Crewe to make it […]
A FAMILY were horrified to discover an animal graveyard in their back garden after moving into a new home.
Andrew Hatton and partner Lana were hit with a stench of dog urine soon after they began living at the home with their two young kids.
The dad cleaned the house in Crewe to make it ready for one-year-old Hugo, who suffers from Spina Bifida and fluid on the brain, but it became infested with flies.
He claims his son was left with a urinary tract infection (UTI) after being bitten close to where he had an op to fit a catheter.
Andrew also says he fell ill after he was bitten by the fleas, which he believes came from dog hair found behind the radiator.
He was also sickened to find three dad rats in the loft and cat and dog skeletons buried in the back garden.
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The dad told Cheshire Live: “We were just living in a nightmare. It got so bad, the kids’ mum was crying every day.
“I haven’t had a drink for just over two years and it basically put me into a situation where I was drinking again. I had to end up ringing for a social worker to ask for help.”
The family moved into the Guinness Homes property on March 13.
Andrew said when he looked around the home before signing, he and Lana just noticed the smell of paint.
But he claims their problems started immediately after they got the keys – with the dad cleaning until 3am to get rid of the urine stench.
After the smell kept returning, Andrew reported it to Guinness who replaced the floorboards and disinfected the house.
It was then the family noticed their loft insulation was infested with flies so a worker was sent back round to deal with the issue.
Believing the three dead rats were the worst problem, Andrew was horrified when the animal bones in the garden were unearthed.
He said: “My foot sank into the ground and a hole appeared, showing a blanket, I put some gloves on and pulled the blanket out to find the skeleton of a cat and a collar. I went around the garden and came across another cat and two dogs buried.
“The housing association said to me that because they had no flesh, and it was just bones, to just chuck it in the wheelie bin like you would a chicken.
“After that, the kids couldn’t go outside in the back garden or anything. They just had to sit on the driveway out the front.”
The family have now been moved to another three-bedroom house but Andrew claims he has spent £5,000 trying to make the home suitable.
Guinness gave him a “good will payment” of £280 along with a £220 voucher to decorate their own home.
The company said they carried out “extensive work” on the property before Andrew moved in – including fitting a new kitchen and redecorating throughout.
They also explained they removed the dust and animal hair and cleaned the home, installed new flooring arranged for a specialist to conduct pest control treatments.
A spokesperson added: “Mr Hatton notified the Environmental Health department that the treatments had resolved the problem. It is not uncommon for more than one course of treatment to be required when dealing with pest issues in a home, however we are sorry to Mr Hatton and his family that this could not be resolved more quickly.
“Following works in his garden, Mr Hatton made us aware that a former resident had buried deceased pets in the garden.
“We are sorry for the upset this caused Mr Hatton. He received advice from the Environmental Health department that this did not pose a risk to him or his family.
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“We have made a payment to Mr Hatton to reflect the inconvenience caused, and also paid the costs he incurred moving to a new property.
“Mr Hatton had told us he was satisfied with this, and he has not raised any concerns to us since. We will contact Mr Hatton to discuss this again and establish whether any further payment is due to him.”
