[WATCH] Rats Takeover McDonald’s, Force Restaurant To Shut Down

A number of rats captured on video inside a McDonald’s (MCD) in Naples, Florida, forced the restaurant to temporarily shut down due to the rodent infestation.

In a video posted on YouTube, the rats can be seen scurrying around the restaurant through the drive-thru window. It was unclear at the time of writing how many rats were inside the restaurant when the video was taken.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which performs restaurant inspections in the state of Florida, confirmed to the Naples Daily News that it had received a complaint of rats at the Naples McDonald’s restaurant on Wednesday.

The agency’s Deputy Communications Director Patrick Fargason told the news outlet, “Our inspector went out to the McDonald’s first thing this morning, and the restaurant was closed. There was a sign on the door that said they would be open soon. Our inspector is in the vicinity and will return to conduct an inspection once open.”

"We did not shut down the establishment; apparently it was already closed. We don’t know if it was the owner or McDonald’s. We haven’t been able to inspect the establishment.”

The owner of the McDonald’s franchise, Mike Adams, told WBBH, an NBC affiliate out of Southwest Florida that the restaurant was closed down after seeing the video online, where it will undergo a deep clean, along with the building’s other tenant a Circle K gas station.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively closing this restaurant temporarily while we thoroughly deep clean and sanitize the restaurant and resolve this matter in coordination with our neighboring business within this building unit.” Adams said in a statement to the news outlet.

The Naples McDonald’s was previously cited in March for infractions by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, including a “vacuum breaker missing at mop sink faucet or on fitting/splitter added to mop sink faucet. Observed no vacuum breaker at splitter at mop sink” and “no paper towels or mechanical hand drying device provided at handwash sink. Observed no paper towel at handwash sink in back area. Operator provided paper towels.”

Adams did not indicate when the restaurant would be reopening.