The Love of a Rat

by Stephanie Ernst · 2009-01-24 16:24:00 UTC
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Rats don't get a fair shake. When people hear that you actually care about a rat or a mouse--for instance, that you don't want to kill one who isn't a pet but who has shown up uninvited in your home--they look at you like you're crazy and scrunch up their face in disgust. And why is that exactly? What makes rats and mice, particularly rats, so different from other animals? So loathsome? So scary? We see and hear all sorts of negative things about them from childhood on (e.g., portrayals of rats in cartoons or movies as creepy and devious and "rat" name-calling directed at fellow humans we find despicable) and fail to ever, or often, question our preconceived notions about them. I've seen and heard even vegetarians respond to a mention of rats with automatic disgust. We don't often stop to consider that just like other animals--just like the dogs and cats whom many of us take in and just like the cows, pigs, chickens, fish, and other animals whom many of us refuse to eat--rats think, experience emotions, and suffer.

Some of you may recall that in an early December roundup ("Animals in the Blogs: 'Expendable' Animals, Global Warming, and More"), I linked to a truly wonderful post from Reformed Fast Food Mascot titled "Final Two Hours of a Life." It was difficult to read. And it made me cry. But I strongly recommend that those of you who missed that post the first time go read it now.

Then come back and watch the below video. This won't make you cry; you will smile and maybe even laugh. Rats feel, and they express affection and joy and playfulness, and not just with fellow rats. Don't believe me? Just watch. Interspecies relationships among nonhuman animals aren't as uncommon as many people think, but this one is quite adorable and may lead you to see rats a little differently. Maybe "just a rat" isn't a good enough response to the question of why we kill these animals when they show up where we don't want them or why we experiment on them in such terrible ways.

Rat Loves Cat

Stephanie Ernst wrote the original Animal Rights blog at Change.org until December 2009. She can now be found at Animal Rights & AntiOppression.
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