05/31/2026
🚩WARNING - THIS POST WILL BE GRAPHIC AND CONTAIN CONTENT PEOPLE MAY FIND UPSETTING AND/OR DISTURBING.
Friday afternoon, we received a call from a property manager in Oceanside (35+ miles away) about “roughly 15” rats left in a storage closet by a tenant who had moved out two weeks prior.
Knowing how dire the situation was for these animals left without care for two weeks, a transporter immediately drove up to Oceanside to save the animals.
The small storage closet they were kept in was in an outdoor parking lot with no temperature control or light. 30 rats had survived at this point, miraculously - 15 adults (including several pregnant females), 12 three-week-old babies, and 3 newborn pinkies. Sadly, the pinkies did not survive, as they were too far gone.
These rats were living in three wire-bottom cages stacked on top of each other, all with mixed sexes in the cages. Almost every rat had mild to severe wounds.
The situation with all of the males in this horrific living situation is frankly - ugly…
Intact adult male rats, fighting over resources resulted in many significant wounds. The wire bottom cages in conditions where rats were fighting to survive are likely the cause of several of the broken bones we are seeing. Several males are missing limbs, likely due to being bitten off.
The most severely injured male, Barrison, has multiple exposed bones, and some very large wounds that will take a long time to heal. He is on pain meds and antibiotics while he waits for his exotic vet appointment.
Another male, Larrison, has a badly broken paw he holds like a crab arm, and walks on his elbow - this is likely an old injury.
Several other males have broken toes and bitten off toe tips, as well as many bite wounds.
Our experienced fosters took all of the pregnant moms and babies, to give them much needed nutrition and TLC.
We would like to neuter the four healthiest males who have been aggressive toward the others as soon as they are cleared.
The more seriously injured rats will need their medical needs met immediately.
Getting the wounded rats the care they need, caring for all of the babies, mamas, and inevitable (likely dozens of) babies who will be born, and getting the aggressive males neutered - will obviously be a large financial cost, but these innocent and resilient souls deserve and need it.
There are several ways you can help these animals, and the several hundred others, who are already being cared for by us. We have several ways to donate at www.weecompanions.org/donate
We also accept veggie and cash donations in-person during our store hours on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We are always looking for volunteers and fosters. More information on our website.
Thank you, as always.💜
