Las Cruces Rat Hoarding Rescue Story

My first "official" rescue, the case that really solidified my position as Southern New Mexico Rat Rescue Connection.  Previous to this, I'd always been doing rescues privately by contacting individuals through Craigslist or other sources and arranging pick-up that way.  I had signed up with the local humane society as a "person interested in rat rescue" -- basically, an arrangement that they would call me if a rat ever came their way.  I also subscribed to a "friends of the animals" mailing list, so I could keep an eye out for rats.  Generally, there isn't a lot of news that comes through these channels.  Rats are just not a popular enough pet in a rural community like Las Cruces.

This situation, however, was a huge shock.  A woman had a handful of mixed-sex pet rats that escaped from their cages, went feral in her house, and started breeding indiscriminately.  This hoarding situation rapidly inflated, and by the time I got a phone call from the local animal shelter, there were over 200 rats that had been captured from the house.

I get this phone call:  "Hey...we have on some paperwork here that you're a rat rescue.  Can you take 200 rats?"

(We got a ton of news footage...you can see one report here)

The week that followed was pretty tumultuous.  I obviously don't have the space or resources to take hundreds of rats.  I wasn't about to let that stop me, though!  Straight away, I started sending out emails to nearby rescues and animal advocacy groups...posted ads on Craigslist asking for any help possible...and posting to the two major rat forums I'm part of, GooseMoose and RatShack.

And here's the most amazing thing: People stepped up to the plate.  People from Albuquerque started calling asking for ways they could help.  Families in Las Cruces offered to help foster.  People volunteered to drive rats.  Then a rescue from British Columbia, Little Mischief Rat Rescue, offered to take as many as I could get transported up there.  What were the odds of getting rats from Las Cruces all the way to Canada, though?

...As it turns out, better than you'd think.

A private pilot and rat-lover from Los Alamos called me and offered to fly them to Washington.  He explained that he owns an airplane and often visits friends and family in Washington state, so he could easily take rats up there if someone from Vancouver come meet him there.  I nearly fainted when he called.

Unfortunately, we were up against some pretty mighty odds.  The humane society here is not equipped to handle small animals, especially not in that quantity.  They wanted them gone as soon as possible, and while I was struggling to arrange homes and transport for the rats, the shelter was literally giving them away first-come, first-serve to anyone who would take them: Including people who intended to use them for food.

I understand why they did it, and I also understand that a number of the rats who were taken went to a reptile rescue in Albuquerque and a raptor rehabilitation center in Southern New Mexico.  I respect both of those organizations, and it was better that than have to euthanize them all and have the bodies go to waste, or else leave them crammed into the tiny cage they were kept at in the shelter.

Still, it makes me so frustrated to realize that I had the ability to take nearly all of them, if they had only given me a little bit more time.

Also, as luck would have it, I was in the hospital getting my gallbladder removed for the majority of the rescue operation, so I had to orchestrate the whole thing from my laptop while doped-up on pain meds.  I was fielding phone calls and emails and getting people connected as best I could.

Altogether, we managed to rescue 42 rats.  Three stayed with me; the others got homes throughout New Mexico, Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia.

The whole experience was probably one of the most magical, electrifying things I have ever had the pleasure of doing with my life, and it's also led me to meet a number of valuable rat contacts here in Las Cruces, as well as kickstart my relationship with Any Rat Rescue in Tucson.