Still Waters Posted April 23, 2012 #1 Share Posted April 23, 2012 A 'giant rat' measuring 4ft from nose to tail has been caught and killed by a pensioner with a lump of wood on his farm.Brian Watson, 67, from Waskerley, Consett in County Durham, was made aware of the monster's presence after his granddaughter's boyfriend cried out while mowing the grass. Mr Watson said: 'I heard him shouting there was a large rat. I came running round the corner. I managed to grab some wood on the way. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OverSword Posted April 23, 2012 #2 Share Posted April 23, 2012 They're going to investigate him for animal cruelty? I'm sorry but you English are really weird sometimes. (Not like Americans, totaly reasonable and normal 24/7) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Posted April 23, 2012 #3 Share Posted April 23, 2012 They wouldn't be able to prove if he killed it in a cruel manner. He can just claim he killed it with one knock to the head - which is how you're advised to kill fish (after you've pulled them from the water with a hook tearing them apart). I'm all for a bit of socially acceptable cruelty when the situation calls for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simbi Laveau Posted April 24, 2012 #4 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Well there was a child near by,and they can carry rabies,but it wasn't doing anything menacing. I'm not sure how to feel about this ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikko-kun Posted April 28, 2012 #5 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I think they should had eaten it. I'd kill the thing if my kid was anywhere near, no doubt about it. But that don't mean I throw away the life I took. 4 feet rat is a lot of meat. Two questions about how would you feel in the afterlife if they did this to your lifeless physical husk: A) Eat it? (be my quest. Then you dont have to eat some other living being so soon) Be disrespectful to my body or me in this occasion? (no) It's about faiths I guess... I believe animals have same souls and spirits we do, and plants too. Stones... they are petrified plants and animals, or some primordial matter that hasn't been in a more biological form yet. Off-topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybele Posted April 28, 2012 #6 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Well there was a child near by,and they can carry rabies,but it wasn't doing anything menacing. I'm not sure how to feel about this ..... Interestingly, rodents are some of the few mammals not know to transmit rabies to humans. That still doesn't make a 4 ft. long rat harmless though. There's no way it was a coypu, as the article mentions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paracelse Posted April 28, 2012 #7 Share Posted April 28, 2012 RSPCA should investigate real dramas rather than this story but maybe they are looking for publicity... I smell a rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Englishgent Posted April 28, 2012 #8 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Well there was a child near by,and they can carry rabies,but it wasn't doing anything menacing. I'm not sure how to feel about this ..... Fortunately we have eradicated rabies in the UK so it would be most unlikely that this creature had rabies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oppono Astos Posted April 29, 2012 #9 Share Posted April 29, 2012 The RSPCA certainly have mixed standards; they put down unwanted domestic animals on grounds of cost, then get involved in a case like this - not sure how one is supposed to kill any creature without cruelty... Rats may carry Weils disease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+susieice Posted April 29, 2012 #10 Share Posted April 29, 2012 (edited) I guess if they run across another one they should call the RSPCA to come get it? If this rat was pregnant, there must be another one around somewhere nearby. That would scare me half out of my wits. Rats in the UK may not carry rabies, but rats over here are known to attack people. Rats are amongst the animals that will look at a human as food. They will attack the weak, elderly and very young. Especially if there is a sizable number of them. Edited April 29, 2012 by susieice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
None of the above Posted April 29, 2012 #11 Share Posted April 29, 2012 (edited) What he did was srong on so many levels. He saw what he thought was a giant Rat, heavily pregnant, posing no threat to anyone by a river and he beat it to death with a piece of wood. There is no rabies in the UK, this wasn't some home invader, he didn't drag it from the throat of a small child, it was a seemingly unique animal in the wild doing no harm to anyone. So, was it a unique 'gaint'? Was it an escaped exotic pet? Who cares, he's nothing more than a cruel old git and he should have left it the hell alone or at worst called the RSPCA to investigate if he had determined that it was an escaped exotic. I've been around a lot of wild rats and believe me, they don't have any love for humans. If that WAS a wild rat and it was about to give birth it would not have done so around people. I think it was more likely an escaped exotic, a pouched rat or similar. It was probobly a friendly pet and didn't think he was a threat. I hope he gets 6 months! And any idiots who think it wasn't an act of cruelty might want to use the same method of dispatch next time they need to have an ailing pet dog or cat put down. Edited April 29, 2012 by Atlantia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
None of the above Posted April 29, 2012 #12 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Rats are amongst the animals that will look at a human as food. They will attack the weak, elderly and very young. Especially if there is a sizable number of them. Wake up you appear to be dreaming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+susieice Posted April 29, 2012 #13 Share Posted April 29, 2012 You've obviously never been to New York City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistydawn Posted April 29, 2012 #14 Share Posted April 29, 2012 I can understand the intensity of fear and loathing at the discovery of this creature, but I also feel a wee bit ashamed that as a species, we humans in contact with anything we see as abnormal or threatening immediately resort to killing. What gives us the right to exact death on a creature simply because of our fear of it? Surely as thinking reasoning creatures, we could show some kind of rational acceptance and show some respect for the life of other creatures. Maybe the size of the rat matters, maybe it doesn't, but surely a creature several times larger than it should be, is of interest to us if nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLastLazyGun Posted May 3, 2012 #15 Share Posted May 3, 2012 (edited) They're going to investigate him for animal cruelty? I'm sorry but you English are really weird sometimes. (Not like Americans, totaly reasonable and normal 24/7) It's what happens when you let the Left rule the country since the 1960s, no matter which party or parties just so happen to be in power. Edited May 3, 2012 by TheLastLazyGun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLastLazyGun Posted May 3, 2012 #16 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Fortunately we have eradicated rabies in the UK so it would be most unlikely that this creature had rabies. Rats carry the risk of Weil's Disease, salmonella, tuberculosis, cryptosporidiosis, E.Coli and Foot and Mouth Disease. And, despite the fact that one or two posters on here have said "It should have been left alone as it wasn't posing a threat", rats can suddenly get very nasty without warning and, if they feel under threat, they can suddenly run at you and bite you with their sharp teeth, transmitting goodness which of those nasty diseases to you. And you dodn't even have to know that they are there for them to feel threatened by you and attack you. So killing this piece of filthy vermin, especially considering there was a child nearby, was the right thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakeblood Posted May 4, 2012 #17 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Rats typically avoid contact with humans.. And they do not carry rabies, but still, many other diseases. I figure the fuss was due the increasing popularity of pet rats. Personally, I couldn't ever kill a rat, as they're among my favorite animals, instead I'd get rid of it with other ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bavarian Raven Posted May 4, 2012 #18 Share Posted May 4, 2012 this is just stupid. rats carry diseases and cause all sorts of problems. i say good on him for killing the rat. anyone who says he was cruel/mean/etc has obviously never had problems with rats before. trust me when I say that rats can cause serious problems... o.O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakeblood Posted May 6, 2012 #19 Share Posted May 6, 2012 I agree with this: I can understand the intensity of fear and loathing at the discovery of this creature, but I also feel a wee bit ashamed that as a species, we humans in contact with anything we see as abnormal or threatening immediately resort to killing.What gives us the right to exact death on a creature simply because of our fear of it? Surely as thinking reasoning creatures, we could show some kind of rational acceptance and show some respect for the life of other creatures. Maybe the size of the rat matters, maybe it doesn't, but surely a creature several times larger than it should be, is of interest to us if nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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