Smelly Neighbors Keeping Midtown Sacramento Residents Awake At Night

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Residents in a Midtown apartment complex are having a hard time sleeping because of the smell of skunks in the air. The smelly situation has them asking management for help.

"My skin starts to itch when it's really strong," said Melissa Leal. "It smells like an onion or garlic or burning. It's not a good smell!"

Leal described the last two weeks in her Midtown apartment as nauseating.

"We woke up to the smell of skunks on Christmas and then two days later another skunk attack!" she said.

She hasn't seen the skunks inside of her apartment but she's convinced they're in the walls and possibly in the air vents. She said one of her neighbors left weeks ago to stay with family because he couldn't stand the smell. Inside of her apartment, she's tried sprays and deodorizers but the scent lingered well beyond her front door.

"I just smelled this awful smell in our office like skunk," said Laine Himmelmann, Leal's co-worker.

She told CBS 13 she thought there was a dead animal right there in the office.

"Melissa was so embarrassed and put her hands in her head and said 'I'm so sorry, it's me," Himmelman said.

"It doesn't really seem to be a concern to them," Leal said, on speaking with the building's management company. "They said it's just a problem in the city and there's nothing they could do!"

CBS 13 reached out to Porter Sacramento Real Estate Holdings and spoke to building manager Kandis Demeo. She said she asked the city's Animal Services department for help and they told her to hire a private company. Demeo said that company set traps on Wednesday but Leal said the traps are not at her apartment yet.

"I just wish that they would actually remove the skunks, remove the odor and treat it like a genuine concern," Leal said.