"Rats Among Us" **venting**

[MalignStar]

Yeah, did anyone see that show Rats Among Us on Discovery Channel? That made me so mad! They showed rats in other parts of the world with people killing them (not dummie rats, real ones!) There were chinese people they showed that cooked them and ate them and farmers in Asia who smashed their skulls in with a stick, then burned them. Who's to say some didn't even die and were burned alive? I am SO upset with Discovery for showing this. It definately exploits rats as pests everywhere and shows horrible live footage of them dying! Grr... *trying to breathe..* And then, there was poison tests they showed. Then derived some deadly bacteria from snake feces and force fed a rat the poison and it died! How educational is that?! I'm writing a letter to Discovery for this.. it really pisses me off. They gave rats credit for their incredible adaptments in society and their intelligence but said nothing about them as pets. I only was able to watch about 40 minutes of it out of an hour long program but what I seen absolutely disgusted me and if I didn't like rats, seeing that show would make me hate them. Of course after I turned the TV to the news and off DSC, I tried not to cry and I ran to my room and petted my dear ratties and thanked God they weren't humiliated on TV like the others in the program.. saying they were pests in all parts of the world except in some place in India where they were Gods and respected more than people. Maybe I'll move to India with my rats where they get more respect than here.

[Meld]

It's sad, but unfortunately it's a fact that rats everywhere are regarded as pests.  Luckily there are people like us that love our ratties.  

[star]

They did show a VERY brief bit about them being pets, and did say that they make wonderful pets for anyone. They showed ratties being held and kissed by a child and two adults. I missed (fortunately) the first 45 minutes of the show, now after reading what you said, I am really glad that I did miss it!

[Suebee]

I caught some of it near the end... ironically, long enough to see the brief mention of them being kept as pets (and stressing that they make GREAT pets), but then they went to commercial, and "coming up next" was a whole bit about lab experiments with rats getting wires hooked up to their brains, so I changed the channel again.

Honestly, while a lot of of was upsetting for someone who DOES keep them as pets (you have to admit, we have a different outlook on the species compared to the rest of the universe), overall it was pretty informative. I missed 90% of it this time around, but I have watched it in full in the past (I think I have it on tape, too...). There were a few moments that were upsetting, but some cultures do eat them, and they ARE pests as well as pets -- something I think we have a tendency to either forget, or block out. I wish they had done more about pet rats, but you can't have everything.

[Kessaria]

I love my rats too, but rats and people haven't always been (and still aren't in some cases) good for eachother.  Like most conflicts, its based on misunderstanding.  

Learn what you can, do what you can in your own environment.  Don't get upset at a program for displaying the truth.  Discovery is a science channel...  If there was a pet channel you could expect a full hour on how great our ratties are!

[afmommie]

I didn't see it. But it is true that for the most part rats are still looked at as pests except by us rat lovers. My husband thought of them as a total pest, but now that I have two and a litter of babies he is starting to take an interest and see that they really are great pets. I've also got a lot of my friends that were not really informed about rats liking them now too.

They really are quite interesting and fun pets. I think if people took the time to understand them they would like them alot better.

[knuckles]

ok, I have to admit that I still look at wild rats as pests.....cute pests, but pests none the less.   But I also view feral cats as pests too.

[Eileen]

If there was a pet channel you could expect a full hour on how great our ratties are!

There is a pet channel (Animal Planet) and I hardly
ever see anything about how great they are. One
Emergency Vets showed an older female with a mammory tumor, and it showed how close the girl who
owner her was. But other than that, I've hardly seen anything that positive.

[Chic 2000]

Rats are considered pests everywhere (execpt India apparently).  Wild rats are a little different from our trained house pet rats.  They tend to be larger, and have much different temperments.  Being wild the will bite humans (out of defence) and they carry fleas, It was those very same fleas on the rats that spred the Black Plauge.  Yes, blame the fleas, but if the rats weren't around .... would it have ever happened?  Wild rats carry things, not just fleas but they poo and pee just like our domestic rats.  They get into the house, take up residence and people have allergic reactions and get sick because of the wastes produced by the rats.  Our domestic pet rats live in controled environments.  We clean their cages, we feed them, all that stuff.  We also specificly breed the wildness out of our pet rats.   When wild rats take up residence in houses, they destroy stuff and make people sick.  That's why the rat, even domestic ones, are seen as pests by many people.

People in other countries eat many animals we Americans consider "pets".  Guinea pigs are consumed in Brazil.  Cats and dogs are still eaten in many parts of the world like Asia and other 3rd world countries.  Rats end up being lunch because these people in those countries see them as a food source.  They do not have the $$ to go out and buy a steak.  Many people in those countries are so poor they have to eat what ever is avalible.  And that entails rats, cats, dogs, rabbits, and other furry critters we Americans consider pets.  They think WE are crazy because we treat (what they see as) food animals as gods.  All of our grocery stores have food just for cats and dogs and birds and rodents.  We have hospitals for animals ect. ect. ect.  Americans think it is wrong to eat cats and dogs and other animals like that because we can afford to live with them and not eat them.  But in those countries people/peasants are perfectly happy eating those animals because they have no other choice.  So as horrible as it looks to us, at least they have some food or they would all starve.

I don't like the animal testing and I oppose it fully.  But that show was a documentary and is supposed to tell about us humans about rats in general, wild and domestic and give information, it's not making a judgement about rats.  Like the news, they don't take sides, they let the listeners have opinions.  So the Discovery Channel is not purposely intending to say animal testing is right, and eating rats in 3rd world countries is right.  They are merely bringing to our attention what it entails as a report.  
Kessaria's quote:    

Learn what you can, do what you can in your own environment.  Don't get upset at a program for displaying the truth.  Discovery is a science channel...  If there was a pet channel you could expect a full hour on how great our ratties are!

  Write complaint letters to companies that still practice animal testing.  It will have more impact and possible make a change.

[SADCAT]

The Discovery Channel is nutorious for being very much against rats. They showed several special about misunderstood animals (snakes, spiders, lizards, etc.) and each were very good and made the animal look great, but when they got to rats they just showed all bad things (mostly made up, like the supposed fact that rats crawl into cradles to bite babies). Their websites also feature innacurate information about rats (this material is avaiable for students, mainly children...). I don't know who is in charge of the Discovery Channel, but whoever they are, they must have had some kind of terrible experience with a rat and they like to take it out on them in their shows.

[Kessaria]

Here's something I saw about an upcomming show, excerpt from their website:

Nigel has been face to face with lions, tigers and sharks. But the one animal that scares him is a little creature that's usually found to be smaller than a human hand. Nigel works to overcome his fear of rats by learning as much as he can about them.

While I don't get the Discovery Channel I wonder how good of a job they will do on this show.  Its supposed to air on Nigel's Wild Wild World on June 8th and 15th.

[Raven Paw]

True rats cause a lot of problems for humans, but I think we deserve it.  Go rats!  

As for eating rats and other pet animals, I don't see any difference between eating a dog, cat, or rat and eating a cow or a chicken.  Just because we think an animal is cute and fun to keep in our house doesn't mean it deserves life any more than less cuddly species.  Killing to survive is totally natural and there's nothing wrong with it.  The important thing is how the animals are treated, but that's a whole different topic.

I think I might like to see this program although parts of it would undoubtedly make me upset.

But I don't see why they couldn't have shown rats in a more positive light.  I once watched a very interesting documentary about snakes.  Although they showed some pretty horrible things that people did to snakes, they also showed how snakes play a positive role in many religions, how snakes are very helpful part of they're environment, fascinating facts about snakes' lives, and they even had a bit about a lady that overcame her deep fear of snakes to the point where she could hold a snake while smiling and talking about how beautiful it was.  If they could do something like that for rats I would be ecstatic.

[MalignStar]

Back to the plague subject, rats weren't the only ones who carried the fleas. Stray cats and dogs who ran the streets and probably even humans carried them in their hair because hygiene was SO poor back then. Fleas may prefer rats blood, but aren't fleas a common problem with our dogs and cats as well even today? Why don't they have bad reps like rats do?

[SADCAT]

Back to the plague subject, rats weren't the only ones who carried the fleas. Stray cats and dogs who ran the streets and probably even humans carried them in their hair because hygiene was SO poor back then. Fleas may prefer rats blood, but aren't fleas a common problem with ou dogs and cats as well even today? Why don't they have bad reps like rats do?

You're right, the fleas weren't just carried on the rats. The humans themselves were infested with them. Humans just like to blame the rats because they were probably already a nuisance being so overpopulated (which again, was the humans' fault, they basically lived in their own filth).

[RatStalker]

saying they were pests in all parts of the world except in some place in India where they were Gods and respected more than people. Maybe I'll move to India with my rats where they get more respect than here.

Here is an article on the temple.  It's really interesting, but as much as I love rats, parts of this article make me SICK!  LOL!~

http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_whitehound/Rats_Nest/Ship_Rats/Deshnok.htm

[MalignStar]

Ugh.. no more depressing, sickening articles, links, TV shows or anything for me. I'm very sensitive and emotional right now and eveything seems to get me super upset. I may just take a break from the MB for awile..    There's jus too much going on now in my life.. I need a vacation. Be back in a week or so.

[RatStalker]

Geez! Give me a LITTLE credit, would you, and go check the link?  It's actually an IN DEPTH article on the temple and its history, complete with pictures.

The "sick" part actually has to do with people who bring offerings to the rats and when the rats are finished with the food, the people go eat or drink what is left because it's "good luck".  AND the floor is all sticky and you can't wear shoes in there.  LOL!

Thanks for thinking so little of me.

[Kendra]

I watched about ten or fifteen minutes of that show before I got so sick I couldn't stand it.  I understand that they want to talk about them as pests, but do they have to show them getting crushed or their necks broken?  I mean, I don't like snakes and spiders, but I don't want to see them hurt.  

Kendra

[Suebee]

Here's something I saw about an upcomming show, excerpt from their website:

Nigel has been face to face with lions, tigers and sharks. But the one animal that scares him is a little creature that's usually found to be smaller than a human hand. Nigel works to overcome his fear of rats by learning as much as he can about them.

While I don't get the Discovery Channel I wonder how good of a job they will do on this show.  Its supposed to air on Nigel's Wild Wild World on June 8th and 15th.

This is the one that Nigel filmed with Debbie! Thanks for the date information!

I'll be out of the country on June 8, rocking out with BNL, but I'll look for the rerun on June 15.