In an indoor hall in Buenos Aires on Sunday, three albino rats leaped from small baskets into a big cage as spectators watched, while others hid in tunnels or sniffed at applesauce. The scene was Ratapalooza, an annual adoption event organized by Team Ratas, an Argentine organization that has spent a decade rescuing laboratory rats and mice from being put down.
The group, whose name is Spanish for “rats,” has rescued more than 8,000 rodents from 11 animal facilities and laboratories since 2016, finding homes for approximately 3,000, according to founder Dominique Verdier. Verdier launched the network after a friend told her a university no longer needed two rats used for research. She now fosters most of the 37 animals at her own home and coordinates a foster network of 90 homes in Buenos Aires and nearby towns.
“Rats are very intelligent and sweet,” María Gabriela Aponte, who has adopted three lab rats, told The Associated Press at a Ratapalooza stand where she sold vegan food and mouse-shaped merchandise. The event, which includes stalls selling keychains, mugs, stickers and hair clips shaped like rodents, raises money for veterinary and food expenses.
Team Ratas requires adopters to have access to a veterinarian specialized in exotic animals, a spacious cage with entertainment accessories, and at least one hour a day of quality time with the animals. The animals come from labs that only supply those not infected with viruses or bacteria. “They do not transmit diseases because they have not had contact with the street nor are they inoculated with viruses and bacteria,” Verdier said, noting that several laboratories prefer to euthanize surplus animals, while others ask her to take them away to avoid sacrifice.
Veterinarian Silvina Diaz, who studies the nervous system of rats and mice at the University of Buenos Aires, acts as a liaison between vet technicians and Team Ratas. “It is great that they’re doing this work of rehoming animals in families that can give them a good life,” she said.
Verdier said she is accustomed to criticism on social media from people who dismiss rat rescue as silly compared to dog shelters. “If people see a dog shelter, they might admire it, but when I mention Ratapalooza they say, ‘What you’re doing is silly,’” she said. “And I say that I’ve been doing this for 10 years and it keeps growing.”