Ark rears orphaned rats
CHARTWELL - Ark Animal Centre in Chartwell is caring for a pack of orphan rats.
The centre is known for being the only shelter in South Africa which specifically rescues and rehabilitates pregnant dogs and puppies, but they’ve expanded their rescue efforts to rodents in need too.
Candice Eilertsen of the shelter said one of the centre’s volunteers found the baby rats on the shelter’s property. Infant rats are also called kittens. The mother of the babies was nowhere to be found so Ark Animal Centre took them in.
The rats are being tube fed with milk from one of the shelter’s rescued mother dogs.
They are injury-free and will be up for adoption in five or six weeks time.
“They are just like tiny puppies,” Eilertsen said. “They require feeding every couple of hours and need lots of love.”
The rats have already sparked the interest of the public, with two people approaching the shelter about adopting them. The shelter’s vet has also agreed to sterilise the male rats.
“They are very cute,” Eilertsen said. “It’s not the first time we have had to hand-rear rats and I am sure it won’t be the last.”
