From: john.bourne@g...
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 1:14 PM
To: Sandra Beasley
Subject: Pet Rats in Alberta
Dear Sam,
Thank you for your interest in Alberta's rat control program.
As you may be aware the government of Alberta has conducted a very
successful program of keeping rats out of the province for over fifty
years. One major reason for this success has been the participation
of all Albertans in doing their part in keeping this most unwanted
pest out.
To ensure Alberta remains rat-free it is very important to maintain
public good will of our program. This can only be achieved through
assurances that we are in fact free of rats. Unfortunately, there
have been many, many cases where "pet" rat incidents have undermined
the good will and reputation of this valuable program. Let me explain
the facts. Where pet rats are permissible and legal, there is no
control over who can own them, limits to numbers and what owners can
do with them. Consequently, rats are invariably released or freed
into the streets, parks and other locations for a variety of
reasons, none the least of which, owners have lost interest in
keeping them. Or, in some cases, pet rats escape, or lost, or, in one
case, several dozen abandoned by thier owner in an apartment suite.
Those rodents are soon discovered dead or alive in parking lots,
school grounds, back alleys, ball diamonds, etc, by someone who then
reports a "rat" sighting to the government. Because the government
has no idea of the animal's origin (you see, Sam, not all wild Norway
rats are the same colour; they can be pinto or bi-coloured as well)
the incident has to be handled like a wild Norway rat incident. And
therein lies the problem. The follow-up investigation and control
effort is not only very expensive, but more importantly, it betrays
the good work and good will of the program. And, as you can well
imagine, irreversibly damage Alberta's rat-free reputation.
So, you see Sam, it is the irresponsibility of people that has created
Alberta's zero tolerance of pet rats in Alberta and not the rats and
has nothing to do with your perception that the government thinks pet
rats are distasteful.
FYI, pet rats are in fact, actually Norway rats that have been bred to
produce different colour patterns but can and have successfully bred
with their wild Norway kin.
Regards, JBB.
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