Carla Delfino

Updated March 2014

Wherever there are humans, there are generally even more rodents below ground, prolific breeders who spread disease and chew through electric cables. When it comes to getting rid of them, solutions range from the murderous to the macabre: not only are they cruel and frequently ineffective, they’re generally toxic to pets and humans. ‘We tend to think that bio-repellent solutions that are safe for the environment will be too weak to work,’ says Carla Delfino, 54, whose company, Imperial Europe, has come up with a harmless and effective solution. Its product, ScappaTopo – which means ‘runaway mouse’ in Italian – offers a non-toxic, environmentally friendly way to control rodents instead of killing them.

Carla is a seasoned entrepreneur who spent 20 years making a very different product: false bank note detectors. The idea for ScappaTopo came to her through a friend working with a telecom firm that had issues with rats and mice chewing cables. ‘They tried poison, but rodents become resistant to it,’ Carla explains, ‘In the US rats can get so big, they need to shoot them!’ Intrigued by this scenario – and despite a very real phobia of mice – Carla set about finding a solution to repel them rather than kill them.

Rat race

She started researching traditional remedies, which took her on some interesting travels. ‘I visited native Americans to discover their remedies, such as peppermint, for example,’ she relates. ‘I studied Ancient Egypt and travelled to Hong Kong, spending days in a library.’ Back in Italy, Carla perfected her own patented formula and approached the University of Naples and La Sapienza University in Rome to test her prototypes on two varieties of mice: lab mice, which are meek and mild, and wild mice, ‘which are ferocious! Just catching them was so difficult!’

Special mazes were built and all the tests produced very positive results. The concept is simple and 100% organic: housed in a paper box, a pouch filled with the patented recipe, essential oils, natural elements and corncobs sends out strong multi-sensory and odorous signals that stress mice and dissuade them from approaching. ‘The micro-holes in the corncobs are perfect for storing the oils and releasing them slowly. For me the customer is not the human buying the product, it’s the mouse! The product must send out signals that alarm mice.’

Clean sweep

Carla promptly proposed product trials to a pest management company and to ACEA, a major electricity firm in Rome; the latter completed their tests this May. ‘After three weeks of ScappaTopo, their cable boxes were clean – no droppings. Three months later, still none!’ Launched in late 2013, the product retails at €8 to €10 and is safe to use in kitchens and around pets. Now Carla is seeking funding for a strong communication campaign. ‘This is a revolution and we need to tell its story.’ She has started distribution with selected hardware outlets in the north and the south of Italy, but is also eager to disrupt the rodent-repellent retail industry. ‘I want to see ScappaTopo in every pet shop, organic market, nautical store… I’m an entrepreneur, I know when I smell a good business!’