I'm so angry right now

So, I happen to know a person on Facebook (and off of Facebook) who breeds rats. She is the kind of person that I think most of our rescues end up coming from. She's absurdly irresponsible and refuses to accept that she may not know everything.

Recently, she had a baby die because she did not have it in an appropriate cage. And that was bad enough. But she outright refused responsibility. So, wanting to avoid another tragedy even though she won't be convinced to stop making babies anytime soon, I suggested better cages. This led to a series of terrible excuses, during which I learned a few things.

First, the litter was unexpected because she failed to sex her babies correctly. Second, she doesn't have anywhere near a proper environment for her rats, which I already suspected. Third, she was no concept of responsibility or common sense.

At that point, I became a little short and our conversation became less pleasant.

I'm just so tired of hearing about people like this, who refuse to learn how to care for an animal properly, before they think they're qualified to own a bunch, and make more. And this person is now in some of the groups on Facebook that have been very safe places in the past, and is passing herself off as someone who rescues, and frequently claims to have more experience than I know for a fact she has. So, now, I have to deal with her more, and now I also suspect that she knows that what she's doing isn't correct, because she intentionally edits it around other rat owners.

I've made mistakes that have ultimately hurt my rats, too. I understand that that happens. But it happens to her again and again because she refuses to learn or to do anything inconvenient to her, to care for her rats, and it's so sickening to hear about all the time.

i know i hate people like that. so far i have just lurked on the forum but soon i hope to save 3 little girls from my friend who is kinda like this. i hope some day they will pass a law for these kinds of people.

i was just thinking, THANK GOD she didn't want to breed them!
the ben in my username was a hamster i got from her 2nd "oops" litter.

There are sooo many people like that on FB now, and everyone else seems to love them and are blind to everything but the "cute beebees" and you must be wonderful because of them...Grrr! I know of so many breeders who show a really good public face and even websites but behind the real scenes its terrible, just disheartening.

She doesn't have a real website. She's.mostly just on Facebook, which is perfect for her because she mostly finds people who know very little about rats. She routinely tries to guilt people into taking leftovers from the litter, which she always has, or she'll have to feed them to her poorly cared for snakes. She thinks home euthanasia is acceptable. She does have some beautiful rats, I'll give her that. And she will go on and on about her vast knowledge of their physical characteristics. She knows little about rat health though. She doesn't have a vet, because all the vets in the area know her and refuse to see her, because they've all reported her, or threatened to report her, for cruelty and neglect. None of this has been able to shut her down yet. She's really good at convincing people everything's fine there, and I'm beginning to doubt she'll ever be shut down.

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lilspaz68 said:

There are sooo many people like that on FB now, and everyone else seems to love them and are blind to everything but the "cute beebees" and you must be wonderful because of them...Grrr! I know of so many breeders who show a really good public face and even websites but behind the real scenes its terrible, just disheartening.

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^ Yes, that exactly!

I am in the process of unfollowing most of the rats groups on FB (except the Rat Race, of course, heh). It just sickens me to see people like this. I can't wrap my head around people who think it's okay to behave this way. That sort of behavior looks to me like a mental illness that just doesn't have a name yet.

I believe even on The Rat Race there is someone who purposely breeds her rats...I am not sure as I have not spent enough time on there....but I think. She seems pretty oblivious to things....It happens on all sites it seems....even when they know the site does not promote breeding...they think you mean everyone but them.

If these people really cared about rats they wouldn't be unnecessarily breeding them while there are thousands out there needing a forever home. Some people's ignorance is just astonishing.

Dahlas said:

I believe even on The Rat Race there is someone who purposely breeds her rats...I am not sure as I have not spent enough time on there....but I think. She seems pretty oblivious to things....It happens on all sites it seems....even when they know the site does not promote breeding...they think you mean everyone but them.

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There are always a few, even in places we like to think are safe from dealing with this kind of stuff.

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There are so many irresponsible people out there. My friends are always amazed at my rat set up, and how well I know my boys. I always just shrug, as I cant imagine having pets and not knowing whats best for them. I guess we cant expect everyone else to feel the same way.

Sometimes you cant convince someone of something no matter how hard you try hopefully she learns from one her mistakes soon, and there arent any rats hurt in the process. I feel your frustration!

I'm actually in contact with this person as well and have been guilted into getting a rat or two from her. I've only yet to bring one home so far as I'm living with someone who wants a limit on the rats I own. The one rat I've gotten from her is a perfect gem and I regret nothing but that she had to be raised previously in such an environment. What upsets me the most about her behavior is that it wasn't enough that she had to throw it around like confetti all over my feed, but that she found access to the one group that was my safe space to talk about my babies. I hope she never finds this forum, because I'll be completely lost. There are three more rats in her care that I've agreed to take (I know, I know - I really shouldn't, but I cringe at the idea of what would happen if I didn't, and these are rats whose faces I see on my feed constantly. And part of me is constantly thinking about the one baby I did get from her that has become such a light in my life and it hurts to think of her being fed to a snake.) but after this, I've planned to finally purge her from my life because I can't stand her toxicity in my life or my friends' lives. Her and I have a complicated history or I'd have done this without hesitation long beforehand.

I've given up on arguing with these people now. It's like talking to a brick wall most of the time. :gaah:

By getting rats from people like you and are giving her the
message that you support what she does. I am sure her babies are lovely, but they sound rather inbred due to accidental layers and improper sexing.

If I thought getting rats from her would in any way encourage her, I would have never accepted a rat from her. However, the sad fact is that she is an unreasonable person and even when she has nobody willing to take the litters, she still breeds her rats. And then, if nobody does want them, they just get fed to snakes. Due to my complicated relationship with her, it hasn't been easy to see these babies and not want to rescue some of them from the cess pit.

Of course there is a desire to want to rescue them and remove them from any bad situation. We all feel that way. Especially when you are preventing it from being snake food.

I dont believe that you can say that in no way is getting a rat from her not encouraging her to breed. Thats why breeders keep at it, because there is a market for them. Adopting from breeders keeps people breeder, because you create a demand for their babies. Without a demand, there will be no need for them to supply. You could say that people like this will still do it, and all the litters will go as feeders, but that is a different situation.

I do agree that breeders as an umbrella term will continue breeding if they have a demand for the litters. But, knowing this person as closely as I do, I can say with much certainty that she is not like this. She would still be breeding with no regard for the consequences no matter whether I was involved or not. I do not make a habit of buying from breeders - in fact, I didn't even pay for the rat I did get.