We are currently helping out with a huge rescue going in Rochester, WA where a woman was found living with hundreds of rats because she couldn't keep them contained and they kept on breeding over and over again until situation got completely out of hand.
Unfortunately an exterminator came in killed most of the rats but there are still lots left living in the house and the walls of the house.
We have several live traps in the house and are trapping some almost daily. One female gave birth to a litter of 10 the day after she was trapped. So far there are 19 adult rats and 10 babies that are safe and sound in rescue looking for homes. Pictures and more info coming soon, right now our main concern is trapping the rats and getting them medical treatment if necessary as the house might soon be condemned at which point nobody would be allowed back into the house. The rats are DOMESTIC RATS!
Update April 29: We haven't trapped any new rats since Thursday. All the rats are now going through a 3 week quarantine to make sure they are healthy and don't have SDA or Sendai virus that could harm other rodents. Once they have been cleared they will be up for adoption. Other females gave birth as well. There are now over 40 rats in rescue waiting for a forever home!
I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.
-Mahatma Gandhi
Featured Pet - Bibi & Dot
Bibi and Dot are two wonderful black hooded rats.
Bibi is the mom and Dot is her daughter. Dot was born in August 2006 and Bibi shortly before that.
The two have been in rescue for a long time (1 year!!!) waiting for their forever home and we just can't understand why they get overlooked time and time again as they are really sweet girls. Our only guess is that it's because the two look quite similar at first and from our experience adopters tend to go for pairs/trios where the rats all look a bit different which makes them easier to tell apart. Even though they might look the same at first glance, rest assured that is not the case at all! Besides the fact that they have different markings on their backs and tails, all rats have quite distinguished personalities and so after a few days you'll be quickly able to tell them apart.
The foster mom calls Bibi and Dot her little Border Collies just because they have similar high energy like that breed of dog. They are always running around exploring, looking for the next adventure. The two are really smart and so will need a family who is willing to entertain them but also keep a close eye on them when they are out and about as these girls are very athletic and can get to places other rats haven't been able to go.
The two girls also have the funniest quirk - Every once in a while they go through a phase where they think their tails are their babies: When they are outside of their igloo running around and all of the sudden see their tails, they think that their babies got out of the nest and so they keep circling until they manage to grab their tails. While holding their tail in their mouths they carefullly move the tail aka "the baby" back into the igloo. Of course as they step outside of the igloo, their tail aka "baby" comes back out again and so they have to do it over and over again which is great fun to see! Sometimes they also discover the other's tail and so they end up dragging the other rat back into the igloo by their tail. They must do his very gentle as none of them ever squeek.
The two girls are well socialized and don't mind being picked up. They aren't big into snuggling though, they think there's more important things in life to see and explore.
Please get in touch with you if you're interested in adopting this wonderful pair!
Latest news
Date
News
30.04.2008
Rochester Rat Rescue in progress
26.04.2008
Norman the ferret has a home a home!
25.04.2008
Trudy & Maude (rats) and Barney the ferret have homes!
