Arja & Heike and 4 other rats came to us via the SPCA who did an investigation and ended up seizing the rats. They asked us to take them in which we gladly did.

The 6 rats were in rough shape when we got them, from needing emergency spays to fur & mange mites as well as bladder infections.

The rats have been in our care for approx. 3 1/2 weeks now and today the first two are ready to go to their new homes. Both girls were spayed and were treated for mange mites. They look and feel great now!!!

Some before/after pictures:

Arja before

Arja after

Heike before

Heike after (her color even changed.. not that obvious on the pics but very obvious in person)

Jenna and her daughter Gizzy came to us earlier this year. Jenna belonged to some street kids who also had male rats and we ended up taking 3 females plus their 47 babies. All but 8 baby girls have since been adopted.

Jenna and her little daughter Gizzy went to live in Seattle with Lynn. They have bonded wonderfully with their cage mates and bring Lynn a lot of joy. Lynn offered several times to write a testimony about how wonderful Jenna's babies are to make sure all of them find homes.

Earlier this week, Lynn emailed us some pictures of the two in their forever home:

We recently received a wonderful update from the folks who adopted Edgar, Heathcliff & Hareton, 3 brothers from Candy's second litter. We just have to share some of the cute pictures:

Kalin writes:
Hey there,
Just wanted to let you know that Edgar (now known as Q, from Star Trek), Heathcliff (now known as Vee from V for Vendetta) and Hareton (now known as Zed from Pulp Fiction) are settling in just fine! They love thier new cage, and have been having a blast exploring it. Zed and Q are both very sweet, cuddly little boys, and Zed especially is starting to approach us more and climb out of the cage onto us on his own.Vee seems a little more shy, but he's coming around and has been the only one to give me kisses so far. He is definitely quite the climber, and a little bit of a pig when it comes to the food! He just loves bananas.
Anyways, here are some pictures, as promised :)

We don't know what's going on in Victoria in the last year or so. Hardly any month passes without us getting a call asking for help with a stray rat somebody found. Most of us have been doing rat rescue for many years, way before LMR was started but we have NEVER seen such an increase in stray rats.

Domestic rats have been bred for centuries to be cuddly pets and have, therefore, lost many of the instincts necessary for survival in the wild. Because they are easy targets, several of the pet rats found in Victoria have been suffering from serious injuries from predators or wild rats they've encountered.

Another worry for us is that it is possible for a female domestic rat to be impregnated by a wild brown rat. Whenever possible, female strays have been flown immediately to Vancouver to be spayed by veterinarians who provide their services for reduced fees.

While it is possible that rats are being released due to a misconception that they could live happily in the wild, others have clearly been discarded, such as the two dumpster girls.

In 2008 we took in Benny, Gracie, Al Capone, Tony, Corrado, Meadow, Livia, Carmela, Ruby, Tina and Mica. We also took in two guinea pigs (Noelle & Kringle) who were also found as strays at a park in Victoria as well as several ferrets (Ramsey, Cindy, Lulu, Norman, Thiago & Lyota).

Now in 2009 we already have two strays from Victoria who are currently in rescue looking for a forever home:

Amora - She was caught by a cat and was brought into somebody's house through the cat door. She is just a little tiny baby. When she arrived in rescue she had major respiratory problems and we weren't sure if she was going to pull through. But thanks to antibiotics and the wonderful care provided to her by her foster mom Cora she pulled through and is doing well.

Erebus - He too was found as a stray at a park in Victoria and landed with Victoria Animal Control. Nobody came to claim him so the shelter asked us to take him.

These are the lucky ones that were found and came to us where they received treatment for their injuries/illnesses. Many more rats were likely released but did not survive.

In Victoria there are three local shelters, including the CRD Pound, as well as Little Mischief Rescue who all deal with small animals, so people should not feel they need to resort to throwing pets out in the garbage or setting them loose outside.

You can no longer keep your pets. Fine. But please do the right and responsible thing and bring them somewhere where they are safe instead of dumping them outside.

Anybody with rats can tell you that rats LOVE treats! Fishing for rats with noodles is a fun way to give your rats an extra-special treat. Any kind of long skinny noodle will work, but I use whole wheat pasta because it's healthier. Cook the pasta, cool it off, and then dangle the noodles near some rats... and watch the cuteness ensue!