'Hoarders' Rats Up For Adoption: 1,000 Rats Removed From House On Reality TV Show

SAN JOSE, Calif. — About a thousand rats are awaiting adoption in California after being rescued from a house featured on the A&E reality TV show "Hoarders."

The Humane Society trucked the rodents over the weekend from Los Angeles to San Jose, where more than 30 volunteers and nonprofit staff helped move the rats into Andy's Pet Shop in San Jose, which agreed to temporarily house them.

Lauren Paul of the nonprofit North Star Rescue told the San Jose Mercury News that the previous owner's daughter had brought home a pregnant rat one day and the litter began multiplying quickly.

The man's neighbors called "Hoarders" producers after the rats began tearing apart the house.

Paul says she hopes rat lovers will come forward and give them a new home.

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Information from: San Jose Mercury News, http://www.sjmercury.com

Comments

[Anna Ward]

12:35 PM on 12/04/2010

I'm planning on adopting from this situation.
It's a breath of fresh air hearing about other people who are willing to help the 'less popular' pets. Rats make wonderful pets!

[MissingAmerica]

11:54 PM on 11/28/2010

Even rats are getting their 15 minutes of fame and lots of perks because of reality television! This is a new high, or low, depending on how you view it!

[destroyah]

02:43 PM on 12/01/2010

honestly i think that they deserve more than 15 minutes... i think its a new high as long as they are portrayed correctly...

[wackette]

03:32 AM on 11/26/2010

Rats are very intelligent and clean... I hope they all find good homes.

[VanTroi]

11:22 PM on 11/25/2010

Rats are excellent pets but they breed like crazy. boys and girls must be separated .

[Fein]

12:55 PM on 11/25/2010

'Rat on a stick!!'

'Get your hot, Rat on a Stick!!' - Monty Python

[mlaiuppa]

11:43 PM on 11/24/2010

Huffington Post should find a better picture to represent this story. The rats in question are domesticated hooded rats; white with black heads and spots down their spines.

The rat in the picture is a common rat.

[Fein]

01:10 PM on 11/25/2010

Or Noway rat. I had an albino hooded rat once, 'Pink Floyd.'

[mlaiuppa]

03:28 PM on 11/27/2010

Mine was 'Madame Curious'.

[destroyah]

02:45 PM on 12/01/2010

fancy rats are descendants of the norway rat

[SCTinkering]

11:20 AM on 11/24/2010

To all those saying KILL or Euthanize that doesn't make for good tv. The US TV audience wants a happy ending.

I work with a rat rescue and it's hard enough finding homes for the ones people buy at pet stores then get board with and colonies that reptile owners couldn't control. 1,000 in one pop is going to be a challenge.

Dont' get pet rats confused with wild rats. Wild ones have the instinct to survive at all costs and are lucky to live a year. Pet rats are still survivers but count on people for a lot more than you think.

When it comes to pet rats there are two kinds of people, those that love them and those that have never had a pet rat.

[3echo9]

10:51 AM on 11/24/2010

Hopefully some python hoarder will step up and adopt them...

[suemj]

09:26 PM on 11/24/2010

LOL! Fanned.

[VanTroi]

11:10 PM on 11/25/2010

hopefully you fall in a hole

[YankeeCanuck]

05:15 PM on 11/29/2010

A rathole?

[CaroleK1970]

10:51 PM on 11/23/2010

1000 Tea Baggers were all assembled in one house?

[destroyah]

02:46 PM on 12/01/2010

how dare you compare rats to teabaggers! the rats don't deserve that!

[roostertatoo]

10:10 PM on 11/23/2010

The answer is NO! I would rather adopt mosqietos!

[destroyah]

02:46 PM on 12/01/2010

what? why?

[cutnshoot]

10:09 PM on 11/23/2010

"Rats is Life" Cawsey in "Straw Dogs"

[Red45]

08:27 PM on 11/23/2010

Oh, sure. I'll adopt some of them so they can eat my house, too.

[destroyah]

02:47 PM on 12/01/2010

rats chew on things a lot because their teeth never stop growing. if you get 2 rats and take care of them properly they won't destroy your house.

[dbmetzger]

07:39 PM on 11/23/2010

1,000 Rescued Rats Up for Adoption in California
About 1,000 rats are awaiting adoption in California after being rescued from a house featured on the A&E reality TV show "Hoarders.http://www.newslook.com/videos/268710-1-000-rescued-rats-up-for-adoption-in-california?autoplay=true

[mekotodo]

05:07 PM on 11/23/2010

Yeah, well, we all know it's hip and cool to say rats are awesome. But wait until your house burns down because of a wild rat infestation. Or wait until they destroy your car overnight as it sits in your driveway. Or wait until they mark your attic with their urine and decide to take up residence permanently.

Yes, wild animals deserve to live but they need to stay wild, too. And until one decides that humans cannot live in areas where rats already live, then decisions need to be made. Control the rats or not. But if you don't, just be prepared to deal with them. It's not fun. Been there, done that. All you urban hipsters who think it would be cool to own a pet rat (or other "whatever is hip at the moment pet") need to look critically at all sides of the issue.
http://www.laweekly.com/2008-07-31/news/rathouse-of-the-palisades/

[NoMercy]

05:45 PM on 11/23/2010

It's okay friend, I know both sides - they can be good little companions, and they can be destructive pests. If you need to, you have to deal with them like they would deal with you if you were in the way.

That's the way it goes, you have to make your peace with it. But if you want, you can find there is a lot of wisdom in just one or two of these little critters, as long as they don't go wild and get out of hand.

[Steph Laberis]

05:54 PM on 11/23/2010

Please don't lump all rat owners with other irresponsible people and to my knowledge the rats that were taken from this home in the article were not wild. I've been a responsible rat owner for 7 years and have spent thousands in medical bills on pets that cost less than a few dollars. Rats are in fact awesome. I have found my rats, even the less socialized "feeder" rats to be affectionate, smart, clean and social pets and frankly, any animal can become destructive when in huge numbers or uncared for. I won't harp on about what the stray cats in my neighborhood have done to my car, the exterior of my apartment or the presents they leave for me in the front yard.

[mekotodo]

08:14 PM on 11/23/2010

You're quite right, it's improper of me to lump everybody into one basket and use stereotypes. Although when I was living in Silverlake (aka, urban hipster land) lots of people had pets like scorpions, designer ferrets, exotic lizards, etc.. All for the sake of being 'hip' and 'unique.' But I did jerk my knee a bit on this one. There's nothing wrong with a pet rat.

I moved up the coast and we got bombarded with the wild Rattus norvegicus. A house a few doors down the road burned to the ground from rats chewing hot wires. My car required a complete new wiring harness. Our house was literally taken over. Not pleasant to say the least. And expensive to deal with. So, yes a bit of anxiety takes over when I read about people saying to just leave the poor critters alone. I'm still somewhat shell shocked from my experience.

And yes, I probably live where I shouldn't (semi-wild Pacific coast) and I'm certainly not indigenous. But neither is Rattus norvegicus. He/she is a newcomer, too. All critters are smart and have their place. As humans we make the decision to occupy the same space too, and we have to deal with that one way or another. I simply had to make the decision that it was going to be 'me' or 'them.' Them went.

[pagansmom]

04:02 PM on 11/23/2010

Wow, it's so strange to me that so many people assign the value of an animal as a pet by their "cuteness". Rats are more social, friendly and intelligent then hamsters, rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs... They rarely bite and enjoy interacting with their people. Come on people, be nice.

[NoMercy]

04:05 PM on 11/23/2010

Yep - a rat is the most human pet I've ever had. Dogs are our best companions, without a doubt - useful and faithful. Cats are useless except for small pest control (including rats and mice, or course).

They must rank around monkeys (golden ones, not chimps or gorillas, obviously) in intelligence. If they were any bigger, they would do a lot of damage.

Rats are just like us, except smaller.

[Aliceann Marquiess]

03:59 PM on 11/24/2010

Interesting... My cat brings my son and I a lot of happiness. She is far from useless, if you ask me.

[destroyah]

02:55 PM on 12/01/2010

if only they had opposable thumbs first huh?

[NoMercy]

04:57 PM on 11/23/2010

The only time I've seen rats "nip" at people - never really "bite", that's so unlikely - is when they are provoked, in a corner. Young children are especially prone to poking rats and other rodents, it's no wonder they get nipped at.

[destroyah]

02:56 PM on 12/01/2010

usually they nip you if they think you have food for them...