Man Kept 1,000 Pet Rats In One-Bedroom House

[matcom]

<snip>

Roger Dier didn't have a lot going for him, but he had his rats. He kept a thousand of the squealing rodents in his one-bedroom house in Petaluma.

After he was cited for animal cruelty and his pets were taken away this week, Dier, 67, admitted that the colony had gotten a bit out of control. Still, he insisted, the furry rodents loved him and he loved them, according to Nancee Tavares, the city's Animal Services manager.

It is the second major case of animal hoarding in Petaluma. In 2001, Marilyn Barletta packed 200 cats in her Petaluma home, where conditions were so crowded the felines began eating one another. The stench of their excrement was so powerful that authorities declared the air in the house dangerous to breathe.

Dier's case is particularly unusual because about two-thirds of the people who hoard animals are women, according to animal control workers. Cats and, to a lesser extent, dogs are the preferred animals.

"Not many people like rats," Tavares said. "They have a bad rap."

Still, Dier fit the profile of a typical hoarder. He was described as unmarried and reclusive. Neighbors said he had often been unemployed but recently was working nights in a computer-related job. He regularly complained about health problems and his age, according to his landlord. He told authorities that he wanted to protect the rodents, but they began breeding uncontrollably, and soon he was overwhelmed.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/06/24/MNGEDJJT3V1.DTL

[myrna minx]

1. Willard? Is that you? n/t

[Arugula Latte]

2. Cue Michael jackson's ode to his rat:

Ben, the two of us need look no more
We both found what we were looking for
With a friend to call my own
I'll never be alone
And you, my friend, will see
You've got a friend in me
(you've got a friend in me)

Ben, you're always running here and there
You feel you're not wanted anywhere
If you ever look behind
And don't like what you find
There's one thing you should know
You've got a place to go
(you've got a place to go)

I used to say "I" and "me"
Now it's "us", now it's "we"
I used to say "I" and "me"
Now it's "us", now it's "we"
Ben, most people would turn you away
I don't listen to a word they say
They don't see you as I do
I wish they would try to
I'm sure they'd think again
If they had a friend like Ben
(a friend) Like Ben
(like Ben) Like Ben

[scarlet_owl]

3. Damn. We had two pet rats and they stunk up the room they were in.

And we cleaned their cages lots. I can't imagine the stench one thousand would create.