Rat Mills

[Vanessa]

hey anyone remember linda lawerence from barrie area?

Boy, that is a name I haven't heard for a while. I think she is still breeding.

 

[theratlady]

i will never forget her name there will be a special place in hell for her.

hey anyone remember linda lawerence from barrie area?

Boy, that is a name I haven't heard for a while. I think she is still breeding.

 

[Willow Bean]

WHo is Linda Lawrence? Obviously a very, very bad person, but does anyone have any stories? I was talking to someone the other day about mills and they said "Yeah but it's only companies that do that... breeders never do that" and I told her she was wrong. I was able to tell her about snake people and the atrocities that go on there but she said "Yeah.. but those aren't breeders" ...I'd love to have some factual stories to share in situations like that. I hate hearing about it but sometimes you have to know the terrible stories to tell people to open their eyes >.<

 

[LA]

Here you go Willow....

Friend of my friends had a carnivorous lizard. He bred rats to feed this lizard. The 'breeding rats' were treated I guess fairly well, kept healthy and whatnot I meant you don't want your breeding rats to get ill (sorry sarcasim). Anyways so there's the story there. Yes he bred, and yes he bred to feed the little ones. Now he doesn't have any rats anymore, he came to his senses and actually started feeling bad for the rats that he had.

 

[RattieScampie]

It's very clean, but the rats are in really small cages, they're not even really cages they're
boxes tiny boxes,

And the rats are squeashed together and are looking really uncomfortable I just want to rescue all of them!!!!!!! :cry3: :cry4: :sad3:

I feel sick :sick2:

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA :cry3:

Sorry I have to go..............

 

[KayRatz]

Could I cross-post this to Rat Forum, JoRats?

 

[jorats]

Absolutely!

 

[KayRatz]

Thanks!

 

[anita1216]

That just makes me sick to see. I look at those pictures and just get furious :redhot: There is so much I would like to say, but its not appropriate here or anywhere else for that matter.

 

[lilspaz68]

Here's some food for thought about people who insist their herp will "only feed live"

My sister works at the Toronto Wildlife Centre (hospital/rehab, and release) and they always feed frozen/thawed to the Wild-caught snakes! These snakes have absolutely no issues with it either... :roll: The only time they feed live is if they have baby raptors in the Centre, that need to be taught how to catch live prey before they are released and they never use rats.

 

[dysisaurora]

boo on animal mills!!! :redhot:

 

[wonderrodent]

I am actually surprised that so many people still don't know about breeding mills. What boggles my mind even more is that people who know about the mills still buy from pet stores and just don't get it that they reward the pet stores by buying pets from them and that they and not doing the rats a favor (well, just the one they buy). When I read people's posts starting with "I just wanted to buy some litter and I walked by the feeder bin...I just had to rescue this rat...." I just want to SCREAM :gaah: Why not rewarding a rescue for their hard work or help someone out who has to give up their rats?
This might be a nicer looking mill but fact is, it is a mill. This guy doesn't see these animals as pets with feelings that deserve a good home and proper care - not even his beautiful blue rat. Is that surprising that the rats (and other pets) that are sold in pet stores are already ill? If there is one or more sick rat in the mill, the chances are high that many others will get sick too. And we try so hard doing a 3 week quarantine when we get new rats.
But as long as there are snake owners there will be feeder rats. I'll also never understand how rat lovers can be snake owners too (even if they feed frozen food) but that's a whole different topic...

 

[NezumiNeko]

That's so sad! I though it looked okay. Then I saw the hamster, the cage looked so much bigger. Then I saw the rats. *sobs* It's just like factory farming. OH, and don't support PETA. (I saw the link) I've heard terrible things about them, not sure how much is true. I read an article which claimed PETA wanted to rid of wolves 'cause they eat rabbits, and are very cruel to them. Well, they're wolves, they control the population, they look cool, in the long run they're helping. There's also a website, petakillsanimals.com. That could very well be a lie, but I've seen so much negative stuff about PETA, I wouldn't trust 'em.

 

[SQ]

I am actually surprised that so many people still don't know about breeding mills. What boggles my mind even more is that people who know about the mills still buy from pet stores and just don't get it that they reward the pet stores by buying pets from them and that they and not doing the rats a favor (well, just the one they buy). When I read people's posts starting with "I just wanted to buy some litter and I walked by the feeder bin...I just had to rescue this rat...." I just want to SCREAM :gaah: Why not rewarding a rescue for their hard work or help someone out who has to give up their rats?
This might be a nicer looking mill but fact is, it is a mill. This guy doesn't see these animals as pets with feelings that deserve a good home and proper care - not even his beautiful blue rat. Is that surprising that the rats (and other pets) that are sold in pet stores are already ill? If there is one or more sick rat in the mill, the chances are high that many others will get sick too. And we try so hard doing a 3 week quarantine when we get new rats.
But as long as there are snake owners there will be feeder rats. I'll also never understand how rat lovers can be snake owners too (even if they feed frozen food) but that's a whole different topic...

I can totally understand how people might need to buy the little pet store rattie in front of them and give it a good home ....

What I don't understand is why people who know about mills and how horrible pet stores are, are supporting the whole thing by buying anything at pet stores. I can't even go into pet stores .... hurts too much ....

- ordering online and buying from stores that don't sell animals is harder and a pain at times, but at least you are not supporting the pet stores and the mills.

 

[mercurydust]

That is pretty sad....but they will always exist. And not all pet stores are completely evil, we have one here in town that is family owned and they breed most of their own animals. The ratties their have large enclosures and toys. But I stopped going to this one when I witnessed someone actually feeding pinky baby hamsters to a snake-I was so upset I almost threw up. It is bad enough when they feed a rat to a snake-it just disturbed me. I know snakes have to eat too, I would just rather not see it. I work in a petstore-here the stone throwing begins, anyway-we feed our snakes frozen mice. Why can't snakes just be vegetarians? :? The worst pet store I ever went to was in Charlotte, Nc-omg when you walked in the door the atmosphere was just....depressing. We were in horror at the conditions, the smell, and the site of many dead birds and other animals in their cages, not to mention lifeless puppies with no energy at all to even greet us which is not typical puppy behavior. I gave the guy at the counter a tongue lashing as my fiance dragged me out the door. Places like this need to be shut down. Makes me want to cry.

 

[jorats]

There will be no stone throwing here. :scolding:
It's true some pet stores do better than others.

 

[Sorraia]

This is the reality of where most pet store animals come from. And this IS a cleaner one! As others have said, imagine the majority that you can't even get locate, let alone visit and take pictures? The guy who owns this one is obviously proud of what he's doing, and KNOWS he's better than most of those out there.

And people DO know what these mills are like, but continue to purchase from the pet stores, thus support the mills. In their minds, they are "helping" the rats. In their minds, it is "better" to purchase from a pet store and "save" that rat from a snake than to truly save a rat by adopting from a rescue or shelter, or to support ethical breeding by purchasing from a responsible, reputable, and ethical breeder.

Now you want to know what just might be worse? So-called "hobby" or "pet" breeders DO sometimes have this sort of set up for their animals! I won't throw out names, but I know at least one or two breeders who openly praise this kind of set up for their rodents. They specialize in mice, but also breed rats. This is "the" way to breed rats. It cuts back on the space required, and makes it easier to control and standardize their care. It pays to research your breeders before adopting from them....

 

[user 78]

That is pretty sad....but they will always exist. And not all pet stores are completely evil, we have one here in town that is family owned and they breed most of their own animals. The ratties their have large enclosures and toys.

Mills don't always have to exist. Puppy and kitten mills were shut down, and any that pop up are generally shut down fast. If people as a whole stopped and looked at the bigger picture, stopped saying they're going to purchase this rat to "save" it, it is possible to have rat mills in that same category. If people took the time to try and educate snake owners on the many benefits of feeding frozen instead of attacking them outright, it is possible that some day feeding live will become archaic and irresponsible to them. None of it's going to happen overnight, but that doesn't mean it will never happen.

Your local pet store may be a lesser evil, but it's still not right. I highly doubt they research their lines, keep track of the purchased rats and their health, breed responsibly, and get medical care for them all. Just because it's easier to look at doesn't make it any better.

 

[mercurydust]

I never said they were right-or better. The point I was making was that they attempt to care about the animals they are selling. :stickpoke: The world is imperfect and I am afraid it will always be. But as long as some people care enough to change things their will always be hope and some very happy ratties.

 

[lj]

we have one here in town that is family owned and they breed most of their own animals..

Maybe you could talk to the owners and see if they would consider having an adoption program work out of their store instead of breeding.

PetValue (here at least) has a few cats at a time in their shop through a local cat rescue. I think it's a great idea. They do not buy/sell pets there at all (with the exception of the kittens that Animal Love puts there). The actual application process still goes through the rescue, not the store.