I have no interest in breeding or selling rats, which is why I am going to let the pet store do that. I buy rats for my daughter to keep as pets, with no intention of buying pregnant females. Since the "accident" has happened, we will provide loving care for the babies until they are old enough to be sold, and then give them over to the pet store. Then they can take the responsiblity for their care and feeding as well as any repercussions from buyers. We already have 9 adult rats here, and we will be keeping one female from the litter, and that is enough of a chore keeping those 10 happy and well fed. Having 10 more adults awaiting adoption here would be out of the question entirely - we have a very tiny house and I don't want to invest in yet another cage to house temporary residents. I'm already facing the expense of getting a cage with small enough wire for baby/toddler rats until they are old enough to leave. Yes, it's possible that they will be sold to inept rat owners, or as snake food, but so will the other 15 rats they had at the store, and I wasn't able to buy all of them to save them from a horrible fate, just as I won't be able to keep all these babies while I carefully screen owners. This whole situation is why I asked the pet store for definite assurance that she could not be pregnant, or I wouldn't have bought her. If I was really uncaring, I would have taken her back to the pet store immediately upon finding out she was expecting. My husband and I don't really relish the idea of a stream of visitors coming to the house to look at rats, or having our phone number out there on bulletin boards all over town. Like I said, we're just rat owners, not rat breeders.
The legend says that Mohammed adored cats. When one of them was sleeping on his sleeve and he had to go out, Mohammed supposedly cut off the sleeve so as not to disturb his pet.
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast - Proverbs 12:10
How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven. - Robert A. Heinlein
What greater gift than the love of a cat? ~ Charles Dickens
There is, incidently, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person. - Dan Greenberg
If purring could be encapsulated, it'd be the most powerful anti-depressant on the market. ~Alexis F. Hope
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