CAMBRIDGE, Virginia — A woman in Lunenburg County is still in shock Friday morning after she said a trip to her local grocery store turned into a nightmare on Thursday.
Kimberly Slaughter was shopping for groceries at Shopper’s Value in Cambridge when she noticed what she thought was rat feces on a popcorn package.
“I didn’t get that bag,” Slaughter explained.
Mr. Slaughter said there was also a sticky mousetrap on the bottom shelf. She went to get another bag of popcorn, but she noticed a small hole in the top right corner of the bag.
“As soon as I put the bag in a basket and went ahead to pick it up, they couldn’t sell it.”
That “thing” she was referring to was a snake.
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Slaughter said he immediately pushed a grocery cart out the front of the store with bags of popcorn and snakes to alert employees to the problem.
“They say, this is kind of never going to happen here,” she explained.
While she was in front of the store, Slaughter said the snake crawled down the side of the shopping cart and out of the bag before returning to the bag of popcorn.
“That was the full length of the cart,” exclaimed Slaughter. “But it had the best real estate.”
Slaughter said an employee kicked the snake out of the store and, based on the photo, a friend told her it was a rat snake, she said.
“I have a baby and he just started walking. So imagine him getting a little bigger. Or my niece goes and says, ‘Hey, I want some popcorn,’ and that Imagine grabbing a bag and chewing it. Not safe. Not healthy. ”
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CBS 6 has reached out to store manager Brian Stanley about this issue. He said the snake in question was a small black snake.
“I don’t know where it came from,” Stanley told CBS 6 reporter Caroline Colburn by phone. No other signs.”
When CBS 6 asked Stanley about the rodent droppings and traps that Slaughter said he found on the bottom shelf of the store, Stanley wasn’t at the store on Thursday, so he said the store had rat traps. I said I didn’t know
“We use the mousetrap sporadically when we need it, but more than that, we use it for prevention,” he explained.
CBS 6 also asked Stanley if Shoppers Value is following Virginia Department of Health protocols.
“We are mandated and follow all VDH protocols,” Stanley replied.
But Slaughter says this isn’t the first time he’s learned of the problem with shopper’s value and believes more needs to be done to protect the health and safety of customers.
“They’re just turning a blind eye,” she said. So, I have another friend who emailed the health department and nothing came.”
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Slaughter said he plans to report Thursday’s incident to the Virginia Department of Health, but hopes the store will be closed permanently as it’s one of the few places in the small town where you can buy groceries. I’m not
“It’s like the only store we have,” she said. And the cleaning process doesn’t take long: get enough people out there, hire a company, clean it up, and open the door again.”
CBS 6 contacted the Virginia Department of Health Piedmont District to ask if they had any complaints about the grocery store. It is said to be in
We look forward to hearing more about your store reports from VDACS.
Source: www.wtvr.com
