San Diego Woman Discovered Living In Van With Hundreds Of Pet Rats

Oct 23, 2019 by apost team

It started with two rats. Then, they started to multiply and now hundreds are up for adoption. The rats had been rescued from the van of a homeless woman.

Clara is the owner of the van. She started out with just two rats as pets. Then, they started taking over her van.

Residents in Via de la Valle, an upscale neighborhood near San Diego, started making complaints to the San Diego Humane Society. They investigated and found the van filled with them.

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Clara worked at a local Circle K convenience store and parked the van outside. When officers approached the van, they could see the problem. The rats were living in the van, coming and going at their leisure. They weren't hard to spot because they were everywhere.

As officers started removing the rodents, they found them in every corner of the vehicle. The rats had burrowed into the upholstery and were chewing through engine wires. Several of them were pregnant with the next generation.

The Humane Society did point out to the San Diego Union-Tribune that the rats were being cared for. Clara was feeding them and giving them plenty of water. They didn't confiscate the rats. Instead, Clara relinquished them because she was overwhelmed.

Someone set up a GoFundMe to help Clara. She could have lost her job if the van wasn't taken away. The rats had to be removed first. No junkyard would accept the vehicle while rats infested it. The fund rose to $5,000 and Clara even had an old van donated to her.

Clara wasn't looking for a handout, though the money helped. She used the fund to pay off some bills and went back to work. She's been given contacts for mental health counseling and other services available.

However, the fundraiser manager was proud the community stepped up to help Clara and to get the rats out of this situation. The rats are now up for adoption through the Humane Society, with more coming available as the pregnant rats give birth.

What do you think of Clara and her rats? Let us know. Also, let others see this for themselves by sending the link to friends and family.