Adopt A Rat

1982: The short-lived Los Angeles "Adopt-a-Rat" program. It lasted about a week. Ended when one of the rats bit a reporter's finger.

(left) Pittsburgh Press - Sep 30, 1982; (right) Paris Texas News - Oct 6, 1982

     Posted By: Alex - Tue May 03, 2016
     Category: Animals | 1980s





Comments
Watch This
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/03/16 at 10:17 AM
Or this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igEY2h1v8os
Posted by Frank on 05/03/16 at 04:55 PM
Hamsters make a nice little pet, so do Ginea pigs. Rats just gross me out, mice too. Fun fact: I once watched my mom kill a mouse by throwing her shoe at it from across the room. The woman had phenomenal aim from throwing stuff at us when we were being jerks.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 05/03/16 at 08:30 PM
Snakes are better pets. Get the right one, and the rat & mouse problem is taken care of, too. The rodents just become big lumps in the snake that go away over a couple days.
Posted by Virtual on 05/04/16 at 12:42 AM
Rats can be great pets, actually, if they're kept well. Not if you keep 53 of them in one apartment. They need to be properly socialised, but being gregarious by nature, they can be. (Unlike "cute little" mice, who are solitary creatures and nasty, vicious b^**ers. Trying to train a mouse is a fool's job.) Evidently no socialisation had been given to these rats - or their owner.

I wouldn't worry about tetanus - I'd worry about the rat getting infected with Botulism!
Posted by Richard Bos on 05/05/16 at 06:55 AM
We raised mice and some rats growing up. Only two things got me bitten. Mishandling (being forceful or squeezing) them or having food smell on your hands. Our rats were pretty docile. The mice took some training at an early age (it wasn't that hard, but peta wouldn't like it).
Posted by GFinKS on 05/05/16 at 02:09 PM
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