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CALGARY HERALD (Alberta) 23 September 04 Rat, snake lovers take aim at city hall (Suzanne Wilton, with files from Jason Fekete)
City officials are taking it from all sides as reptile owners and rat lovers blast them for their approach to dealing with an infestation of the rodents.
Reptile owners say they're being unfairly maligned in the hunt for whoever let loose dozens of rats in a southeast neighbourhood, while rat lovers call their killing inhumane.
The founder and director of Reptile Rescue of Alberta, G.A. Christian Bilou, disputes claims by city and provincial officials that the rats found in Acadia were bred for feed for snakes and lizards.
"There isn't a big market for rats as reptile food. They can seriously injure or kill a snake," Bilou said Wednesday.
So far, 40 domestic Norway rats have been found and killed, but the hunt is still on to find whoever dumped the pests.
Bill Bruce, Calgary's head of bylaw services, said there may be at least four illegal rat-breeding operations in Alberta. The rodents are either bred as feed for snakes and reptiles or for people to keep as pets, Bruce and a provincial official have said.
Bilou, who is also legislative co-ordinator for the Alberta Reptile and Amphibian Society, said he believes the pests were destined to become pets, not prey.
Feeder rats, he said, sell for about $3 to $6 each, while the pet rodents can fetch between $20 and $30.
Bilou said most snake and lizard owners feed them previously frozen food, such as rabbits, because it's cheaper and easier to get.
Bilou, whose group represents about 150 snake and lizard owners, condemns the keeping and breeding of rats.
But those who consider the furry creatures as their friends say the reptile people are simply handing out snake oil.
"The vast majority of rats are raised for snake food," said Debbie "The Rat Lady" Ducommun, founder of the California-based Rat Fan Club.
Ducommun cited statistics in a 1999 Wall Street Journal article that 93 per cent of 180 million rats and mice raised in U.S. that year were sold as food.
Ducommun, whose club has about a dozen Canadian members, said killing the pests with poison and clubs is inhumane.
"I wonder what people would think if they were doing that with feral cats," she said of the poisoning and clobbering of the rodents with brooms and spades by area residents.
Ducommun said rodents like the ones found in Acadia are as domesticated as cats and make wonderful pets.
But Bruce defended the city's actions, saying it's the only practical solution to ensuring the province keeps its rat-free status.

well they probably were bred as snake food..and what of it?

The problem as I see it, is the lawmakers in some of the prairie provinces are a bit anal about things..I guess something to do with the history of the region as a grain producing area, and the general unfamiliarity of people in inland areas with funky hobbies like reptile breeding...I mean look at that list they had of species that were "out" to people.. bloody Pere David ratsnake was on there (Elaphe davidii) ..I mean very few ppl have ever seen a photo of this taxon let alone seen a live specimen..and anyone who did have them would not be letting them escape and "start a wild population of them" not that that would be likely anyway... I find it pretty hard to believe that Alberta is free of wild populations of rats anyway...is it?