Abstract
Whereas much research has been conducted on rats in their roles as pests and laboratory animal models, little is known about rats in their role as companion animals. However, rats have become the third most common companion animal admitted to the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) shelter system after cats and dogs. This paper analyses 5 years of province-wide rat admission and outcome data (n = 3,392) at the BC SPCA. Most rats that entered BC SPCA shelters were white, sexually intact, and pups less than 6 months old. Rats were mostly relinquished by their owners, and the most common surrender reasons were due to owner-related issues and housing issues. Reasons for euthanasia were primarily poor health and neonatal age. A multiple linear regression model found that rats that were either senior, albino, unhealthy, seized by humane officers, or born onsite tended to stay longer in shelters (F[12, 1466] = 9.565, p < .001, adjusted R2 = .06). Time to adoption for albino rats was 79% longer than for white rats. These findings help us understand the preferences of rat adopters and why the rat-human relationship may fail. Results may also be useful to improve the quality of life for pet rats by identifying programs to reduce their length of stay in animal shelters. Finally, our study highlights new questions for welfare research in an understudied companion animal–the pet rat.
Highlights
Human perception of the value of animal life is dependent the species and the context of the human-animal interaction [1]
We found that no healthy rats, as determined by shelter staff, were euthanized, reflecting the BC SPCA’s commitment to not euthanize healthy animals
Brown et al [38] suggest that the average length of stay (LOS) of dogs in shelters that only euthanize animals for serious medical and behavioural reasons was considerably longer than the LOS of dogs in shelters that would euthanize animals due to space limitations in addition to health and behaviour reasons
Summary
Human perception of the value of animal life is dependent the species and the context of the human-animal interaction [1]. This contradictory human-animal relationship is interesting in the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) due to their prolonged co-existence with humans. The domesticated fancy rat (Rattus norvegicus domestica) has a long history as a companion animal [3], but their popularity as a pet is relatively low compared to more traditional pets such as cats and dogs [4, 5]. In Australia, approximately 2.7% of households kept small mammals as pets, and 19% of them were rats and mice [5].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
