21 hours ago
Charity rescues 72 ‘neglected and malnourished' rats from ‘disgusting' conditions in home
Dylan Beckett, head of the small animal team at Assisi, said he believed he was attending a regular callout when a woman rang to say she had 50 rats 'that were properly split into males and females'.
'She kept reassuring me that they were split because 50 rats can very quickly turn into 200 rats,' he added.
'I told her we would take a set and then get them rehomed and come back for the next set. So that's what I was expecting when I got there.'
Once he arrived at the home, however, he was shocked to find the conditions the rats were living in.
'It was foul-smelling and disgusting. There was just this stench of death, faeces and neglect.
'The rats were covered in tumours, burst abscesses and injuries. Some are so inbred they are missing limbs and eyes.
'You could tell they were extremely malnourished and neglected. The only thing they had been fed was dry dog kibble.
'The owner had been picking them up by their tails, so some of them have broken tails. Every single one of them has a chest infection,' Dylan said.
Despite the distressing scenes, Dylan said the rats' owner appeared to be unfazed.
'There was no remorse, whatsoever. When I was lifting the rats, they were screaming in fear. That scream is not a sound you could get used to,' he said.
'When an animal is screaming in fear or pain it's a horrible thing to listen to, but the owner was chuckling while hearing that. They were just showing zero compassion. In my eight years of doing this, I've never seen anything like it.'
One of the rats taken away has since died and three others have had to be put to sleep since arriving at Assisi.
However, Dylan is determined to take care of the rest to the best of his ability.
'We have had people in contact with us about rehoming these rats, but it will be a long time until they are ready to leave us. We are all working hard to help them overcome their chest infections and any other conditions they may have,' he said.
Assisi set up a fundraiser for the rats and has currently raised over £1,700.
Dylan said he was pleasantly surprised by how much money has been raised already to help animals that many people only see as vermin.
'I think it's a testament to these rats that they have raised this much, despite their reputation,' he said.
'It's a lot better than it was. Thanks to TikTok and Instagram, people don't just think of the Black Death — people see that you can teach them to do these tricks and things, and they are becoming very popular.
