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Kind-hearted woman discovers the hard way that rats multiply like rabbits
By adamg on Fri, 01/27/2012 - 5:17pm
Rat awaits exam at MSPCA-Angell.The MSPCA reports a Cape woman who bought two rats at a pet store to keep them from becoming snake snacks showed up at Angell Memorial in Jamaica Plain today with 69 more rats than she started out with.
The MSPCA reports all 71 rats are in good shape and that it is now looking for homes for them - so presumably that hipster lady with the Red Line snake need not apply.
The woman who owned the rats, who lives in Sandwich, initially purchased two at a local pet store that were destined to become snake food. Her decision to rescue them from such a dismal fate resulted in uncontrolled breeding, and she ultimately turned to the MSPCA-Angell for help.
The 71 rats come on top of the 94 hamsters also recently surrendered to the society:
The addition of 165 new rodents in one week represents a tremendous strain on the organization's resources. Still, the MSPCA-Angell will pull out all of the stops to find homes for the rats. Said Boston Animal Care and Adoption Center Manager Alyssa Muro, "The timing is never ideal for a surrender of so many animals, but these rats all seem to be in good condition and we'll feed and provide shelter for them for as long as it takes to get them into permanent homes."
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Comments
The Third Jihad
Is it just a coincidence, or did this ad start popping up on your screen when this story about rats was posted?
"The Third Jihad: Spotlighted by The New York Times"
Clever wording. Doesn't say whether it was a positive spotlight or a negative one.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/nyregion/in-poli...
Apparently it's a bigoted anti-Muslim film sponsored by the same lunatic who has pumped $10 million into Newt's PAC.
What a mron
This person is.
Incidentally I saw my first
Incidentally I saw my first rat at a T station today in JP...
Please Folks
Spay and neuter your rats.
Ha!
There was a recent "Beavis and Butthead" on this very topic! Life imitates art!
That said, this lady had a nice idea, but they breed in large numbers, and snakes inevitably eat 'em, which controls that population. Food chain, lady.
What a waste of resources
What a freaking idiot. Now, the MSPCA's resourced are being strained to find homes for 71 rats.
Easy
Find 71 snakes!
TWSS!
Hi there Ciao99, Rat lover
Hi there Ciao99,
Rat lover here. While I DO NOT, in any way, shape or form support what this idiot from Sandwich did (more on that below), I resent the fact that somehow, you've decided what animals are worth the MSPCA's resources and what ones aren't. Rats make GREAT pets -- I often refer to them as small dogs (i.e: they come when they're called, you can teach them to fetch, they make great snuggle buddies). Having had many, many rats over the years, I can tell you with 100% certainty that my rats mean just as much to me as anyone else's cats/dogs/lizards/birds/whatever else. I've also been in the position to, and have, spent hundreds (in some cases, maybe thousands -- I've never really kept a running total)of dollars on medications, medical care, etc. I could just as easily ask the question: Why would the MSPCA waste their resources on 71 cats or dogs? (As an aside, I've both fostered and rescued rats from the MSPCA -- one of which is snoozing happily with me right now.)
That being said, as far as "rescuing" rats from pet stores (or, for that matter, "rescuing" ANY animal from a pet store) -- uhmm, doesn't work. The store doesn't give a DAMN what your plans are with that animal and they are going to replace it with another to be sold in a matter of days (possibly less). If you want to rescue, go to a shelter!
Finally, it is 100% beyond me how this woman didn't know that she had a male rat in with a female rat. Rat testicles are HUGE. I repeat: HUGE. They can practically mop the floor with them. If this woman couldn't tell what those two torpedoes hanging off of her rats' hind end were, she shouldn't be allowed to have animals in the future.
*end rant*
Thanks for reading, have a nice day :).
Please tell me
This is Bostons cat lady who now is the cape cat lady.
None in the freezer
This woman simply knows more about compassion than biology, apparently. She also knows enough to surrender the whole rat and kaboodle when it got out of hand, and the animals are well cared for.
Cat Lady, by contrast, had to have sick animals removed from her care - or lack therof. She also had cats in the freezer and rambled on about a breeding program, etc.
Don't you think it got out of
Don't you think it got out of hand a little before #71?
Rodent breeding
I worked in a bio lab raising mice and rats. You can easily be up to your ears in rodents quickly if you don't breed them intentionally (or rather, intentionally NOT breed them).
One pair could have about 6-10 kids after about 20 days. If half of them are female (4), they can each have 8 of their own about 1.5-2 months later. Mom, however, has a window after birth to get impregnated again immediately and have another 3 litters of 8 kids each time in the same 2 months. So, in about 3 months, you go from 2 to 60 and that is just assuming only half of that first litter is female. If the were all female by some luck of the draw, you could have 66 (2 + 8*8) without Mom even having a second litter of her own (Rat Dad says, "Incest. Never heard of it.").