Frankie Floridia is used to getting calls about all sorts of animal rescue situations: a kitten stuck in a storm drain, a raccoon with a jar on its head, a deer tangled in a hammock.
“We respond to the calls that are very difficult for homeowners and other people to do,” said Floridia, the president of Strong Island Animal Rescue League on New York’s Long Island. “I’ve seen it all. Nothing shocks me anymore.”
Earlier this month, however, his team received a call from the Suffolk County district attorney’s office that startled even him. Hundreds of domestic rats were found in a now-condemned house in the New York City suburbs.
“This is a unique case,” Floridia said.
There were two options, he said: Exterminate the rats, or rescue them — a task requiring immense effort.
“The humane thing to do is not use an exterminator and save these little animals that are happy and want to live,” Floridia said.
He and his team agreed to rescue and rehome the rats, many of which had wounds and other health issues. Domestic rats (sometimes called fancy rats) differ from wild rats, as they have been bred as pets and are usually smaller, more tame, more social and easier to handle than wild rats. Domestic rats also have a wider range of coat colors.
A group of about 10 volunteers have so far trapped more than 450 rats, with roughly 40 more left in the home in Rocky Point, about 72 miles from Manhattan. They called the mission “Project Ratatouille.”
The rescue effort has been challenging, Floridia said, as rats can be tough to catch. Some were trapped by hand, others with nets.
“They’re in the walls; they’re in the cabinets; they’re in the drawers; they’re in the couch,” Floridia said. “They were basically everywhere.”
Once captured, the rats are separated by gender to prevent further breeding. Females can give birth to eight to 18 pups every three to four weeks.
Floridia said he suspects the homeowner had pet rats that repeatedly reproduced. He does not believe it was an intentional breeding operation.
“This situation was probably only out of control for six months,” he said.
Injured and sick rats have been taken to a local animal hospital to be treated, and the others have been transported to foster homes.
“Then they get processed and ready for adoption,” Floridia said.
Fewer than 10 of the rescued rats have been euthanized. Individuals and other rescue groups have stepped up to foster or adopt the rats, and some have volunteered to transport the rats to homes outside the state.
“The support from volunteers and other rescues has been amazing,” said Erica Kutzing, vice president and co-founder of Strong Island Animal Rescue League.
About 250 rats have so far been placed in permanent homes or with fosters. Kutzing and Floridia said rats can be hard place in homes, as they aren’t typically seen as desirable pets.
“There’s a stigma,” Floridia said, acknowledging that the rodents are sometimes seen as gross or scary.
He said many people don’t realize rats are “actually very intelligent; they’re very clean, and they make amazing pets.”
“Like a hamster or a gerbil, they’re cuddly,” he added.
Plus, they must be adopted in pairs or more, as they are social animals — which makes it even more challenging to get them adopted.
“Rats enjoy partners,” Kutzing said. “Humans cannot mimic the kind of social interaction they need from another rat.”
Kutzing and Floridia said they’ve been touched by how many people are invested in the rats’ plight. Their Facebook updateshave been flooded with concerned comments and offers to help.
“They are beautiful!! Thank you for saving them!!” one person wrote.
“Can’t wait to pick mine up tomorrow,” another wrote, adding a rodent emoji.
“I’ve been in rescue since 1990. … The rat rescue community is by far the kindest,” Kutzing said. “I think it is attributed to the fact that rats are the underdogs, and they can almost be a representation of the forgotten people; the people who don’t always fit in. People resonate with rats because they are kind of seen as an outcast.”
The homeowner has been charged with animal cruelty, neglect and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Associated Press.
Volunteers are continuing to work around-the-clock to rescue the remaining rats and get them into homes.
“We are not going to stop until we find placement for everyone,” Kutzing said. “We don’t have any other choice.”
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