Man Fined For Feeding Rats Found Eaten By Rats

For years, the neighbours have been complaining that Thomas H. Stone, 67, was feeding rats at his suburban Seattle home.

They apparently won't have to worry about that anymore. But the sheriff's deputy who checked on the last complaint may have a hard time getting the image he found out of his head.

Authorities said the deputy found a dead body, believed to be Stone, on the second floor in a house full of rodents, faeces and garbage - with rats feeding on the decomposing corpse.

One neighbour said they'd been warning officials for about five years about the rats. And county health workers told Stone to stop feeding them.