“A woman resided with 1300 rats in Altenkirchen”

• Animal Hoarding in the Westerwald
• District of Altenkirchen: Woman lived with over 1300 rats in the house together
• Animals were “by no means in good condition”

A case of the so-called Animal Hoardings: A woman out knowledge at the victory (district of Altenkirchen) kept over 1300 rats in her family home. The animals were mostly taken care of by the veterinary office of the Altenkirchen district administration and the non-profit organization “Emergency Rats Rhine-Ruhr” rescued.

Update (February 23, 2023): Another 500 rats rescued – Sarah Bernardini from “Emergency Rats Rhein-Ruhr” reports

Am Wednesday (February 15, 2023) found the third of a total of four rescue operations instead of. They could again about 500 animals be captured and taken to safety, like Sarah Bernardini told by the “Emergency Rats Rhein-Ruhr” in an interview.

“It really was rats everywhere. You have the oven opened, 50 rats were looking at you. You have the Refrigerator opened up, rats were looking at you,” says Sarah. Many animals were in very poor condition and sick. The animal rights activist speaks of “crushed and battered”.

On top of that some female animals have started eating their babies. Sarah Bernardini explains that this phenomenon is not uncommon. “They haven’t been fed for years. The the only food there was were babies and conspecifics“.

Animal welfare emergency in the district of Altenkirchen: Hundreds of rats urgently need foster homes

Die District administration of Altenkirchen informed inRLP.de that initially two rescue operations took place. In the first rescue on Tuesday (January 31, 2023), around 400 animals could be secured. On the following Tuesday (February 7, 2023) another 400.

Die “Emergency Rats Rhine-Ruhr” were working hard together with the veterinary office. “On site you don’t think about anything, you have the blinders on and just try to pack as many animals as possible and in the evening one falls asleep from exhaustion‘ says Sarah.

Donate the association takes over https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Notfallratten or by Transfer to DE81360605910002527026 thanks to In addition to financial means to pay for the veterinary and feed costs, one thing is urgently needed: Foster homes for the rescued rodents.

“Emergency is far from over”: Around a hundred other rats are waiting for rescue

As the Bochum animal protection organization happily announced on Facebook, it could almost 100 rodents from the Animal Hoarding household find a new home. However, the “Rhein-Ruhr emergency rats” also report that there are still a number of animals to be rescued: “The emergency is far from over”.

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Also confirmed was the fact that there are more rats in the house, by the spokesman of the Altenkirchen district administration. A fourth and final mission is planned for Saturday (February 25, 2023), during which around 100 animals are to be rescued again.

Then it should be decided whether the Animal Hoarderin keep the animals under certain conditionsn may. Animal rights activist Sarah Bernardini speaks out skeptical. The veterinary office missing it fundamentally capacitiesto control the posture.

Animal welfare endangerment: From diseases “everything is there”

The Altenkirchen district administration shares on request inRLP.de with that the veterinary office through information from the public noticed the woman. “The owner was not clear at first contact and unableyourself to a necessary substantial inventory reduction to take care of,” it said.

Sarah Bernardini from the “Notfallrats Rhein-Ruhr” is dismayed by the animal hoarding case in the district of Altenkirchen: “One is speechless and angry“. The animals are mostly sick. As has already been established, many of the rescued rats have, among other things Worms, lice or biting lice. It was “everything across the board”.

Typical for cases of Animal Hoardings is it that people die bad conditions for animals is often not clear. This was also evident in Altenkirchen. Many of the rodents required veterinary treatment. It is checked whether a Administrative offense proceedings against the owner of the rats is initiated.