Mutant rats (AUDIO: Regrets [+]Juno Dawson, Redacted (BBC Sounds, 2023).) were rats which grew in size after being exposed to extraterristrial chemicals dumped in the Docklands area of London, forming a new subspecies. (AUDIO: Apex [+]Juno Dawson, Redacted (BBC Sounds, 2023).) As Apex Costa noted, (AUDIO: Apex [+]Juno Dawson, Redacted (BBC Sounds, 2023).) a similar case occurred in Sheffield in 2018 when spiders mutated after being exposed to toxic waste. (TV: Arachnids in the UK) As Shawna Thompson later noted, (AUDIO: Redemption [+]Juno Dawson, Redacted (BBC Sounds, 2023).) another similar case occurred in 1973, (HOMEVID: Global Conspiracy?) when maggots mutated after being exposed to dumped chemicals in the Welsh town of Llanfairfach. (TV: The Green Death)
A series of attacks were reported in the press. In the third reported attack, a family dog was killed. Esther Daley was on a work Zoom, when her dog Benji started barking. After he stopped, she went out into the garden and found him; he had been mauled and ripped to shreds. She saw the tail of the rat disappearing under the fence. She described it as "half rat, half gremlin". (AUDIO: Regrets [+]Juno Dawson, Redacted (BBC Sounds, 2023).)