Judge: Mice show no fear around anti-rodent device

NEW YORK - A New York judge says pictures of mice lounging around an anti-rodent device, called a Repeller, are reason enough to let a lawsuit proceed against a company that sells them.

U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III included three pictures in his written ruling Wednesday.

He says a trial is necessary to determine if a group of consumers is right when it says the devices are completely ineffective and are falsely marketed.

The ruling included pictures that showed mice congregating beneath the device and one crawling up a wall and eventually resting on top of it.

Said Pauley in describing the tell-tale photos: "Mice can apparently relax comfortably under a Repeller and even appear to be so drawn in by its siren song that one would scale a wall just to snooze on it. That leaves this Court wondering how BHH [the New York-based company that makes the product] can argue that there is no disputed issue of material fact as to efficacy."

The device, which plugs into an electrical outlet, is supposed to repel mice, rats, ants, spiders, roaches and other pests.

A lawyer for BHH said his client stands by its product.