Rat store cruelty and neglect to 35,000 rats
Encinitas, CA (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Jun 26, 2003
County: San Diego
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Peter Springer
An Encinitas businessman is facing a criminal charge of mistreating some 35,000 rats he was raising.
Peter Springer could face up to three years in prison if convicted of allegations filed by the District Attorney's Office. The rats – some live, some frozen – were sold, mostly as food, to pet stores and zoos throughout Southern California.
Springer, who was not available for comment, is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 17 in Vista Superior Court on a felony charge of inflicting needless suffering and cruelty to the rodents. According to court records, he has not retained an attorney.
During a raid on the property by San Diego County Animal Control officers in July 2002, Springer complained the officers didn't understand the rat business.
"We attempt to care for them," he said at the time, "but some will die."
Springer, 62, and business partner Bob Turner – who is Springer's son-in-law – have owned Rats R Us for nearly a decade. Deputy District Attorney Katherine Flaherty said prosecutors also considered filing charges against Turner, but decided there was not enough evidence to link him to the allegations.
The charge was filed after an inspection of the facility by animal control officers June 26, according to court documents. A letter notifying Springer of the charge was mailed last week.
Lt. Mary Kay Gagliardo of animal control said her office has received complaints about the rat-breeding operation since 1996.
Gagliardo said the inspection was a follow-up to the July 2002 raid. During the inspection two months ago, officers said they found tens of thousands of rats living in squalid conditions at the facility, a 11/2-acre property on Union Street near Saxony Road. Their number, which was estimated at 20,000 a year ago, had nearly doubled by June.
Some of the rats were packed into cages, struggling to breathe, according to officers. Hundreds of other rats, in various stages of decay, were found dead, and live rats scurried over the dead. Scores of other rats were found sick or injured, Gagliardo said.
"The stench was overwhelming," she said. "
Gagliardo said all of the living rats were euthanized with carbon dioxide, a process that she said took "days." She said the most recent complaint came from Maggie Houlihan, an Encinitas councilwoman. Houlihan, who lives up the hill from Rats R Us, called, said Gagliardo, when dying rats began crawling on her property. References« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
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