Yes! YES!! I know exactly what you mean!
It is only people that think outside the square that can see that ALL
animals are equal. The brutal death of a mouse or rat is no less
disgusting and disturbing than any other animal going through the same
thing.
We must educate people that these little fellows all have personality,
feelings (duh!) & deserve the same respect as any other creature.

I have a pleasant memory of living in a house where there was a wild
rat who also decided he'd move in...
Me & my house mate came home to find 3 apples laying on the ground.
Chunks of each apple had been biten (cheeky thing!). He'd made his
home under the floor boards under the bath, we didn't see him much.
Except one night... I was walking into the kitchen and he was walking
out! From a birds eye view it must have looked very funny! We both saw
each other and in pure shock both ran the way we'd come. (He was a big
rat!)
He hid under the stove, we opened the back door and got him out. A few
days later he returned. We locked up our food and eventually he went
on his way. We never considered using poison, what would be the point?
He was no harm to anyone, didn't even make a mess (exept for the few
apples)! Proof we can all live in harmony!

Jill


--- In AMRIS_rodents_and_rabbits@..., "Rebekah
Blackwolf Mitchell" <lady_azurewolf@...> wrote:
>
> When we are asked about our feelings on animal welfare and cruelty
> we rarely consider the rat or mouse.
> Yet thousands are used in experiments and hundreds kept as pets.
> Did you know that these poor, misunderstood creatures are not even
> included in the Animal Welfare Act other than what it allows
> for "housing" of such "small animals"?
> Beat a rat to death and you'll find most people wouldn't even want
> to hear about it. Beat a cat to death and 99% of the responses would
> be of disgust and anger.
> If we used the same control methods on dogs or cats, as those sold
> in supermarkets for rodents, there would be public outcry.
> The RSPCA would be provoked to voice it's outrage all over the
> media and "animal lovers" would be in tears.
> Yet, unfortuneatly, some of these very same self-proffessed animal
> lovers are among the first to rush out and by commercial rodenticide
> at the very hint of a wild rodent.
> Feral cats get shot, quick and painless, or are trapped and
> euthanised by a pond veterinarian and people are disgusted by the
> waste of life.
> Rats and mice endure 3 to 5 days of internal bleeding, and the
> slow starvation of their orphan babies and no one could heave a sigh
> it often seems.
> Inside this club we hope to promote a more humane way of treating
> all creatures and especially defend the humble rats and mice of the
> world.
> founder: Rebekah Blackwolf-Mitchell.
>