Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW YORK, March 3 (UPI) -- The parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut has brought in the big rodent kahuna to figure out how to rid its New York restaurants of rats. The New York Post reported Saturday that YUM! Brands hired renowned rat expert Bobby Corrigan, who will launch a Herculean effort on behalf of his client, whose stock slipped last week after television cameras captured footage of rats scampering around one of its Manhattan-area outlets with impunity. Advertisement The video was picked up by news outlets nationwide that broadcast the footage to horrified U.S. television viewers, the newspaper said. The day before the rats were caught on tape, the restaurant had been given a passing grade by a city health inspector; the city's Department of Investigation is looking into the passing grade. Corrigan, who also consults for the New York Health Department, told the Post that rising temperatures this time of year cause a "surge" in the rat population on the hunt for provisions; rats are less active in cold weather, he explained, to conserve energy. But mostly, Corrigan said, it comes down to basic cleanliness on the part of a restaurant owner to keep the rats out of the establishment. Advertisement
