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Shelters swamped by pet rats

The animal hoarding situation is putting a strain on already overwhelmed facilities in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties.

LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — It's not every day shelters take in dozens of pet rats. However, dozens of rodents were removed from a home earlier this week in Lackawanna County—56 of them, to be exact.

"When they got here, their condition was OK. I mean, they were dirty; they lived together in cages, so they weren't properly bathed or able to clean themselves because the cages were dirty. But for the most part, they are in good shape," said Emma Ripka with Blue Chip Animal Refuge.

Blue Chip Animal Refuge near Dallas has taken in most of the animals. Griffin Pond Animal Shelter in South Abington Township has the remaining 14.

"We go hand in with them, and we help each other out; it's a close-knit family. We lean on the other for support, so when they called, we were more than happy to help with what we could," said Megan Mauro with Griffin Pond Animal Shelter.

But these rats are putting a strain on already overwhelmed facilities. Blue Chip had to put an expansion project for its "Rabitat" on hold to use the space for the rat cages.

"We are at max capacity with literally every area of our shelter right now. We don't even have a single spot to fit another dog, same goes for cats and rabbits. Now we're making room for a bunch of rats. We are waiting on more rat cages to come in so they have more room," explained Ripka.

Since rats aren't the typical animal these places usually have in their care, both shelters need donations.

"We generally need the bedding, which is Carefresh Pet Bedding, so we can line the cages because we don't typically have it on hand since we don't use it often, and we also need rat food," said Mauro.

"Even though we have a lot going to homes, they eat quite a bit, and we need the monetary donations for their groceries because they eat fruits and vegetables every single day," said Ripka.

Blue Chip was able to find foster homes for some of the rats, but the rest will be put up for adoption.

See more pets and animal stories on WNEP's YouTube playlist.  

 

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