Humans Can Manage Rat Populations Without Torturing Them. Demand Ethical, Humane Methods In Norway!
Humans have a tumultuous, complicated relationship with rats. In some parts of the world, rats are seen as benevolent and even cute, with the small rodents frequently being kept as pets or even included in religious worship. But in the West, rats are consistently categorized as a “pest.” Our inability to see rats as living, feeling creatures means that the management methods they are subjected to are markedly and unnecessarily torturous. Norway is a prime example.
Most countries need to manage rat populations for the sake of public health and safety. But in Norway, the gruesome methods used are horrific. Rat poison leaves animals who ingest it suffering for days, plagued with internal bleeding, vomiting, dehydration, and more. But trapped rats are just as unlucky — they are not killed by the traps, but rather imprisoned in a stressed, anxious state until a human comes along to bludgeon them to death. Rats stuck on glue traps may lose body parts or even skin while trying to escape.
Just because we have decided rats are an inconvenience does not mean millions of them deserve to suffer for days or weeks before they die, tortured with anxiety, fear, painful symptoms of poisoning, and more. Norway must manage rat populations in an ethical and humane way, which doesn’t cause unnecessarily torture and suffering of innocent animals. Places like the United Kingdom are on the forefront of ethical management — all Norway need do is take a page out of their book. We have an ethical obligation to treat all living things with as much compassion as humanely possible. Sign the petition to demand that Norway employ exclusively humane methods to manage rat populations!