Pink Is Beautiful
This page is here to create awareness about PEWs and other rats with pink eyes.
From Moondust of www.goosemoose.com. Moondust is the creator of the awareness ribbon and the cause:
A lot of people don't seem to realize the extent of the bad hand dealt PEW rats. They are the most likely to be tested on or find themselves to be snake-food. They are the most likely to be found at pet-stores, to be abused and (due to their lack of novelty appeal) they are the least-likely to find homes among real rat-fanatics that make a good home. They are the ones most likely to enter a rescue, and the least-likely to leave. Any rescue will tell you, PEWs are hardest to place! They are difficult to take pictures of without "evil glowing eyes" so many people looking online pass by their pictures for more appealing rats.
So if their temperament is the same, why are these rats so overlooked? At best, most people only have one PEW in their colony if any at all. Some describe them as "creepy" due to their eyes. Other people just find them boring. Many just have trouble telling them apart! To a lot of people, white rats remind them of labs, a trait they find unappealing.
PEWs are often born in unplanned litters, due to the fact that it is a phenotype created by many combinations of genes. They are among the most common color of rat, if not the most common. Often these guys sit at rescues and shelters and in the worst-case scenario, they are euthanized to make room for "prettier" rats. In many pet-stores with pet and feeder tanks, the PEWs are seperated at an early age and plopped into a seperate snake-food tank with a much lower price-tag than those born with color. Same litter, different purpose in life.
How you can help:
Next time you have room for a rat, and are considering a rescue, don't just go for the pretty colors. Everyone loves the merles, nekkids, champagnes etc and they are almost guaranteed homes. Instead, do a rescue and a rat a favor and choose the "Plain Jane" in the litter. Not only will you be helping an oft- overlooked rat find a home, you'll find that they are the same inside as the pretty ones! If you do adopt one of the "pretty ones" consider adopting a PEW to go with it.
A lot of people have no problems lecturing on the adoption of cats over kittens from the SPCA, and yet have no qualms about walking away with the prettiest rat in a rescue litter, leaving the PEW siblings and mother behind! Don't be that person!
Other types of rats that have difficulty: normal wildrat-type agouti and black hoodeds. Just too common!
Luckily PEWs do have one break. Due to some states, such as Alaska and Nevada (or is it only some cities in Nevada?) only allow PEW rats.
Feel free to copy and paste this anywhere you wish,or to use the ribbon.
From us here at Little Mischief Rescue:
Sadly we couldn't agree more! We see it time and time again how the PEWs get passed up for the fancier colored rats and it saddens us greatly as we just can't understand it, especially since we are all HUGE PEW lovers.
As much as we love them and we would NEVER EVER think of putting them down just "to make room for fancier colored rats", we have to admit that PEW rats take up a lot of resources as they stay with us for a long, long time, often well over a year and considering the short lifespan these guys have, it sadly means that sometimes it is for a lifetime.
The cost for bedding, food, vet bills etc that it takes to take care of them all adds up fast.
It also affects other rats that need to come in because while a foster home can on average foster 4 pairs/trios of rats every year, once we take in a pair or trio or even whole litter of PEWs, that foster home will most likely spend the rest of the year taking care of just them so we end up having to turn away other rats in need because we simply don't have the foster space.
The worst part is the sadness that comes with it though: Time and time they get overlooked. Seeing how these precious ones are simply not wanted, not loved by the majority of people out there just because they are white with pink eyes just breaks out hearts. Often we get excited when we read in the application "We don't care about color" until we read on and it says "Except no red eyes, we don't like rats with red eyes ". It really breaks your heart each time you hear it.
It gets even harder if we have a pair or trio or whole litter of PEWs because it means that people are now also not interested in them because at first sight they look identical and people think they won't be able to tell them apart. People are generally not interested in "twins" and that doesn't just go for PEW but other colors/markings a well e.g. a litter of black hoodies will take a lot longer to be adopted than a litter with a variety of different colors. Of course rat lovers will tell you that it's generally not a problem to tell them apart: All rats have totally different personalities and there will always be small difference between rats - Difference in size, color of the eyes, ears, tail length you name it. You might not realize those differences right away but over time they will be come more and more obvious.
So next time you are thinking about adopting, please consider adopting a rat with red eyes. We can assure you that they are just as lovable as any other rat and they really deserve good homes as well! You will make a rescuer's day!
