As someone who has struggled with unwanted rodents on numerous occasions, I was quite fascinated by the apparent legal precedent being set here:
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) – A Providence man is in trouble after he abandoned nearly 300 rats on the side of the road.
The man, Toby Duffany, pleaded no contest to animal abandonment and was ordered to pay $1000 restitution and perform 50 hours of community service.
Police say Duffany crammed 280 rats into aquariums and cages, and left them on the side of the road in Foster last month. The rats were discovered several days after they were abandoned. 72 rats had died and the rest had resorted to cannibalism.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals euthanized the living rats.
In court, Duffany said he got rid of the rats because they could not live in his apartment with his new baby.
The Rhode Island SPCA was disappointed with the punishment.
Hmmm….
Because I live on two coasts, I’m afraid that I might be found guilty of rat or mouse “abandonment” every time I close up a place and leave the poor critters without any sustenance! Can I dare resort to pre-emptive rodenticide murder?
Seriously, in light of this fascinating precedent, can arrests for cruelly trapping or slowly poisoning rats be far behind?
What is a responsible rodent steward to do?
MORE: I’m wondering. Might the following be considered a crime scene?
If someone threw it away, would that constitute obstructing justice?
AND MORE: Here’s a closeup view of what rats did to a dishwasher drain hose:
Note that it is dripping.
Would it be cruel to repair the hose and deprive the rats of their water source?
Comments
4 responses to “There is nothing more tragic than an unwanted rat”
This a completely natural outgrowth of the perverse fiction that animals have rights.
If animals have rights, bug spray is a holocaust in a bottle.
“Would it be cruel to repair the hose and deprive the rats of their water source?”
Depends on the rats, doesn’t it?
I jest of course… Or do I?
No need to tear yourself up over this, eric. Give it a month or two and I suspect we just might have a Common Sense Czar.
Here’s hoping the appointee thinks a man’s home is still his castle…within reason, of course.
ccoffer will CLEARLY be monitored for not differentiating between domesticated animals and bugs, and eric, you will have to deduce your own outcome from there.
ding! ding! ding! ccoffer is ON the radar.
Scootch to the center a bit, ccoffer?
Well done!
My dog, eric’s rats and your bugs thank you for your gracious reconsideration.
Perhaps if we all reconsidered a bit more, ccoffer, or in some cases a bit less, eric, we could avoid this damn Common Sense Czar?
Said with “HOPE” on the second day of BHO’s presidency.
That yellow thing in the top picture looks suspiciously like a body bag, so I’m thinking it probably is on its way to CSI.
On a lighter note, is it possible that someday some of the arguments used by PETA will actually be used in favor of our children?
Enquiring minds want to know.
I’m rather surprised that the rats fared so poorly…
They seem so adept at stealing food a defecating all over garages (or at least in my experience, anyway), you’d think any competent rat wouldn’t need to resort to cannibalism…