PARKVILLE, Mo. — A Parkville woman is devastated after a local pest control company mistakenly sprayed her yard instead of a neighbor's, essentially erasing years of her hard work.
For the past three years, Bonnie Martin has worked diligently on her yard, hoping to attract pollinators, particularly butterflies.
“Well, I was wanting as little grass as possible and plants to attract pollinators and butterflies,” she said.
But looking around her yard Friday, insects — especially butterflies — were nowhere to be found.
Martin said the company, Pro Pest LLC, mistakenly sprayed her lawn while she was out running errands on Thursday. The company meant to spray her neighbor's yard and left the invoice on her front door.
“It’s a very serious mistake,” Martin said.
After speaking with the company over the phone, Martin said she was told to "overwater" her lawn to try and dilute the chemicals.
41 Action News spoke with the owner of Pro Pest over the phone on Friday. He admitted the company's mistake and said he plans to meet with Martin on Monday to try and fix the problem.
“I appreciate the fact that they said they were sorry, but sorry is just not going to fix the problem,” Martin said.
One of Martin’s nearby neighbors, Mark McKellar, is a wildlife biologist. After hearing what happened to her, he said he wants more to be done on the company's part.
“I know it was an accident and accidents can happen, but there has to be some kind of repercussion for this because this isn’t just a small thing that you can forget about," McKellar said. "This goes on for months and months and months, and this not only affects her yard but her neighbors, too."
While some pest companies advertise the chemicals they use only kill certain bugs, McKellar said the chemicals will have an impact on all insects.
Martin and McKellar hope that in the future, people will think about the environment before hiring a company to come and spray their homes.
“If you kill one, you kill them all,” Martin said.
