San Diegan Accused Of Cruelty To 35,000 Rats: Rodents Sold To Pet Stores, Zoos For Food

NBCSandiego.com ^ | August 13, 2003

[new cruelty]

SAN DIEGO -- A North County man faces possible prison time for allegedly raising 35,000 rats in cruel and filthy conditions.

Peter Springer of Encinitas, Calif., will be arraigned next month on a felony charge of inflicting needless suffering and cruelty to the rodents, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Springer, 62, was co-owner of a company called Rats R Us. The company operated for nearly a decade on 1.5 acres on Union Street near Saxony Road. It sold rats to pet stores and zoos, mostly as food.

Prosecutors decided to file charges after animal control officers inspected the rat-breeding operation in June. Inspectors found tens of thousands of rodents packed into filthy cages. Some were so overcrowded that the animals struggled to breathe, according to the newspaper.

The inspectors reported finding hundreds of decomposing rat carcasses in the cages. Many other rats were determined to be sick or injured.

If convicted, Springer could be sentenced to three years in prison.

[new cruelty]

Temples?

[new cruelty]

Here is the article I was thinking of:

Child shares milk with 'holy' temple rats

A child has been sharing milk from a bowl with a group of "holy" rats at an Indian temple.

Hundreds of rats live undisturbed at the Karni Mata Hindu temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan.

It's known locally as "Rat Temple".

The high priests protect the rats because their bodies are thought to house the souls of dead worshippers.

There are special holes allowing the rats to move around the temple.

It's said if you spot a white rat, you'll have good luck.

[sep·ten·tri·on XX]

WTF cares what a rat likes?

Not I . But. I also have no use for humans that imprison any living creature and make their lives hell.

[.cnI redruM]

hmmm, Daschele, HRC, Byrd, Schumer, et al....

But no self-respecting python could eat any of them w/o regurgitating.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Ferrets rock!

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

A little flea, and blubonic plague bacteria, and you could destroy a city!

It is no wonder they are called "vermin".

[Guillermo]

So I guess you eat no meat and wear no leather.

Are you one of those who doesn't eat honey either, because of the "slavery" the bees are put through?

[sep·ten·tri·on XX]

LOL

Okay. I'll give you the chickens in tiny cages and cows crowded in pens.

But the bees are definitely not slaves nor are they treated inhumanely unless you call smoking them inhumane.

[gonzo]

**smoking them**

I'll bet you can get quite a buzz smokin' bees!!!!

I know - I know. I shoulda done better..........FRegards

[Fledermaus]

Thank goodness these idiots weren't around in 1968. I used to shoot lizards with my BB-gun when I was 10 and sell them for a nickel to the snake owners I knew.

[this_ol_patriot]

Some day that kid will be approving your new VISA card.

[SAJ]

Nah, no buzz. Can't keep the little goomers lit.

[Michael Barnes]

re#25

Mine is running around my garage tonight...been hearing some odd noises in there (think it's chipmunks)..We'll know in the morning.

[katze]

Yes, temple. There are so many terms for holy places, and I must've had a "senior moment", when I couldn't remember Hindu temple. ;-)

[new cruelty]

I used to shoot lizards with my BB-gun when I was 10 and sell them for a nickel to the snake owners I knew.

How very entrepreneurial at that young age. Fledermaus the Lizard Hunter- I like that name.