Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Ratatouille at the Richmond Animal Shelter Will Blow Your Mind

Because it has blown mine.

So I was on Petfinder today - getting to know all the current pets up for adoption at Richmond Animal Care and Control (the home of Ham Skillet) - when something peculiar caught my eye: Ratatouille.

Not because of the name (French veggie dish? Whatever. Cute animated film? If you must. Certainly not as unlikely a name as Ham Skillet.) but because of the dog breed listed underneath the name: Rat. Could it be a typo? I wondered. A nickname? A Rat Terrier? (Note for the smarty pants in the bunch: I know what you're thinking; just let me finish.) Anyway, as I was saying, I was more than curious about this dog named Ratatouille (and the blurry thumbnail image was no help, thanks to my semi-retired, insubordinate eyes). So I clicked the link, and saw this face...

Hi, there. I'm not a chef, but I sure do like to cuddle with my peeps.

Oh! It's a rat (as in rodent)! I thought, feeling a little silly. It's not like I'd never heard of shelters taking in caged small animals (like rats, rabbits and even snakes) before. It's just that I wasn't expecting to see one today

So then, naturally, I had to know why the little guy's owner surrendered, or worse, abandoned him: Did they move? Did their new significant other hate rats? Were they hospitalized? Or dead? 

Never, in my wildest dreams, though, did I expect to learn this from his Petfinder description:


Found loose in the city (as in Richmond CITY, not the burbs, teeming with fast cars and over 200,000 people)?!

What the peanut butter fudge?!

OMG! What are the odds?! What animal-loving, no-rat-fearing, decent human being scooped him up and had the know-how to get him to a shelter? And what about the fantastic, amazing, caring and unprejudiced people who run Richmond Animal Care and Control

I say Ratatouille is one LUCKY RAT!

If I say "cheese," are you gonna give me some this time?

And as of yesterday, because no one has come forward to claim him, one lucky rat who's gonna make some lucky person a great little pet. 

Whether you like rats for pets or not, you've got to admit this is one uplifting example of all the good that can be served by our local animal shelters. It gives me hope. 

*****

More shelter pets on the blog tomorrow (on account of me getting all distracted by the rat today). :)

P.S. Although I've never owned a pet rat, one of my husband's college roommates had one, Edwina, who spent most of her waking hours out of her cage, playing and interacting with humans. She was one smart, funny and surprisingly affectionate dude-ette. 

30 comments:

  1. Supposedly domestic rats are quite social and quite intelligent. It makes me sad to think of the poor guy running around lost, or even worse, dumped.

    That being said, I gets a small case of the eebie-jeebies thinking about rats after some of the barn rats we had when I was growing up. They hung around the barn to catch any grain our horses spilled and as a result were well-fed and HUGE! Our cats wouldn't even take on these giants! Very scary! Ever see the movie Ben? :-)

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    1. Taryn, never saw Ben, but I know the M.J. song from it. Ack. I don't care for wild rats, either. They are nasty and gross. But the domestic ones are cuties (if you can get past the tails). I just can't imagine one running around Richmond and living to "talk" about it. Now, there's a movie. :)

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  2. Hi Y'all,

    My Human would never have rescued the furry critter. Around the barns they put poison in rat holes and then they died and smelled awful when the weather warmed.

    Also, she told me about a humongous rat in an alley she needed to cross to get to a parking garage and her car. Nope, if left up to my Human, the poor rat would still be out there.

    Y'all come by now,
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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    1. Hawk, your mom is with the majority, I would guess. That's what makes this story (and the little rat) so incredible!

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  3. Wow - talk about a lucky dog - er rat! :)

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  4. Lucky indeed! My mom's friend growing up had a rat she always took everywhere...one time mom got a ride home and the rat nearly scared my mom to death because they would let him loose in the car!

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    1. Well, I wouldn't like a rat running all over my car, either, Scrappy!

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  5. My niece had a rat and it was a very sweet pet ;) Very nice story, thanks for sharing!!!

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  6. ahem. just to let you know, my full name is Georgia Little Pea Ratatouille. for obvious reasons [love of food! not because i look like a rodent!]

    you don't want to know what my humans do to rats. that goodness that one wasn't running around our backyard.

    p.s. i hope you didn't do a pee wee ;)

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    1. I knew there was a familiar ring to that "Ratatouille"! That's why I immediately thought of a dog and not a rat, GLP(R). Now I don't feel so much like an airhead. Oh, thank you! :)

      No, I don't want to know about the sad rats over there. And, no, I didn't pee wee (much). Old age. :)

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    2. I have 2 words for you girlfriend. Incontinence diapers.

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    3. Yes, it's a good thing they make those little teeny ones now. No one needs diaper lines. (smarty!)

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  7. Not the greatest rat fan, but that IS an amazing story. And he IS kinda (kinda?)) cute. I think. Maybe.

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    1. Bermtopia, it's the little whiskered muzzle and the ears. :)

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  8. What a cool story! Although I think I'd have to draw the line at rodents!

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    1. Sorry, nope, doesn't come close to cute in my book!!

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    2. 24 Paws, you need to watch several Disney films featuring mice and rats. Mickey and Minnie, however, don't count - they are strange.

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  9. I guess I'm in the minority, nothing new about that! I love rats and mice and just about all creatures including snakes, lizards, spiders and bugs. I've had pet rats before. I see the wild ones in the bushes around my horse stalls quite often. What kind of person scoops up a rat off the street? I would!

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    1. Corgi Lady - I would have scooped him, too (as soon as I finished breathing into a paper bag to stop the hyperventilating - it's just not every day that one meets a tame rat on the street). ;) I love the creatures, too - except for fleas and ticks and lice - I can't find one reason to like them.

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  10. I'm impressed with the person who recognized this was a fancy pet rat. And so happy they had the wherewithal to do something with that knowledge.

    I'm not a big fan of wild rats (I used to see them around city ponds and they do kind of give you the creeps - Willard and all that) but I LOVE the domesticated ones. Had a friend who used to keep them so I got quite comfortable around them - they can be quite affectionate. (At least I got more comfortable with them than I ever did my other friend's Iguana.) I've really got to get some normal friends...

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    1. Haha! Leslie, if my off-the-blog friends decided to go the more "normal" route, I'd have been friendless a while back. I'm the lady who quit using her back porch because it would disturb the gigantic writing spider who'd made a web in the corner (among other things). It's good to have a diverse group of friends!

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  11. Wowzers, what a story! Most people I am sure would have just freaked out and ran away, but the fact that someone actually stopped, decided this rat was actually someone's pet, picked him up and brought him to a shelter? That is full of awesome.

    I used to have pet gerbils and I did not love them. Hopefully Ratatouille gets a better home than the one I gave Frenchie and Elmo! ;-P

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    1. Kristine, I had three gerbils and I can't even remember their names. Sad. They were a little lacking in personality.

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  12. you guys rock, but momma us rat-a-phobic...

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    1. Silvie - Nice to see you! So is my husband (a phobic). He screamed at a mouse in our garage. Silly.

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  13. That poor lost, really disgusting rat...I'm sure he is sweet as heck, but... ***shudder*** Weirdly, I had a gerbil once (named Ratsun) and I loved that tiny little rodent dearly. He was a big fan of fresh fruit and Susan Sarandon movies. I wish i had pictures of that little imp.

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  14. Firstly, I love Ratatouille (the movie)

    Secondly, I can't beleive they FOUND that rat, he must be very friendly. I am more of a guinea pig lover myself, but I've heard they make great pets.

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