Last week, staff at an animal shelter in New Hampshire were prepared to help an overburdened man who came in with the intention of giving up 150 mice.
The director claimed that because the individual had more than 150 mice, the shelter is currently dealing with a “enormous” breeding problem. There were 150 mice in his containers.
The New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ executive director, Lisa Dennison, stated that when he first arrived, he claimed to have 150 mice. He subsequently explained that he had 150 mice in his tanks.
Rapid breeding has caused the issue to spin out of hand, posing a serious challenge to both the local shelter and the homeowner.
“The breeding of the mice has just created this enormous problem for him,” Dennison stated on Sunday.
According to a news release from NHSPCA, the guy was “overwhelmed by the sheer number of mice in his possession” when he brought three huge plastic tubs filled with 73 mice to the shelter last Monday.
NHSPCA employees kept visiting his house throughout the week, loading up vans with more mouse tubs. There are currently close to 1,000 mice in the shelter.
“The mice were living in filthy plastic tubs that hadn’t been cleaned in what appeared to be a long time,” the SPCA stated.
“We have never seen anything like this. And the longer we wait to get all of the mice out of their terrible living conditions, the greater the likelihood is that the numbers will continue to grow,” Savannah Alcero, director of animal and veterinary services at the SPCA stated. “With a gestation period of just around 20 days, mice can reproduce at an alarming rate.”
Dennison, seated behind her with piles of mouse-filled containers, is trying to find permanent homes for the mice, take care of them, and stop them from multiplying.
“We were separating the males and females,” she stated. “And now we have many females on pregnancy watch because they breed rapidly.”
Numerous mice have been transferred to local welfare organizations, and 18 mice have been adopted thus far.
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Despite telling her kids last week, “No more rodents,” Elisha Murray adopted four females, Kelly, Dee, Maxine, and Eleven, according to the Associated Press.
“We’ve always had small rodents as pets — rats, mice, hamsters, the whole nine — so I just figured I could help out,” she stated. “We have the whole setup, everything I need at home already, so I figured, what the hell.”
Dennison urged the public to assist, saying, “That is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Some of the mice have been named after chocolates, such M&M, while others have been given names like Doug, Daryl, Dude, and Deputy.
