Australian Rat Fanciers Society
(AusRFS Victoria)
An organisation dedicated to the
welfare and promotion of pet rats.
Founded in 1996 ... for the love of rats!
AusRFS Rescue Service
The AusRFS takes its animal welfare role very seriously
and our Rescue Service is one of the most important
aspects of our Society.
Because we promote rats as pets,
we believe we also have a responsibility to provide
a safety net for pet rats if things go wrong.
To date we have taken in & rehomed over 10,000 rats.
The usual average is around 300 per year,
but some years we go well above that number.
Our Rescue Service is totally funded by donations and fundraising.
We currently have many lovely rats in care
ready and waiting for their forever homes.
Where do the rescue rats come from?
Unfortunately, like cats and dogs, pet rats can end up without a home for a variety of reasons and through no fault of their own. They can be lost or abandoned, their owners might surrender them because they are no longer able to care for them or because they simply don’t want them anymore.
Changes in family circumstances and owners moving house are the most common reasons for surrender. We also get a lot of calls for help from people who have bought female rats from a pet shop only to discover that the rat was already pregnant.
The majority are surrendered directly to us by their owners, but many animal shelters in Victoria, also pass on pet rats to us for rehoming.
How does the Rescue Service Operate?
All rats that come into the Rescue Service undergo a basic health check and parasite treatment and receive medical treatment if necessary. Then they are either housed with our Rescue Service Co-ordinator or fostered by club members for a while so their health and personality can be assessed, and to be sure that females are not pregnant, before being offered for adoption.
What sorts of rats are available?
We usually have variety of rats, but it’s the nature of rescue that numbers fluctuate and the ages, sexes, personalities & colours available varies.
Since pregnant or nursing females are frequently surrendered, we often have babies which have either come to us at a very young age or been born in our care. But we also have older rats. These lovely oldies still have a lot of love to give and deserve a second chance of a forever home.
We always do our best to find homes for all our wards, but rats are only ever adopted into homes that are appropriate to the particular rat and visa versa. If we don’t have a rat that is suitable, the person can be placed on a waiting list, as things can change from day to day.
Adopting from the AusRFS Rescue Service
All rats are adopted directly from the AusRFS, never via a third party. New owners complete an adoption agreement and receive full care information and ongoing support. The small adoption fee goes back to fund future rescues. We have a full return policy for the life of all rats adopted from us.
Do rescue rats make good pets?
Yes ! Rats are very adaptable and naturally bonded to humans, even those that have been abandoned or come from bad situations, settle into their new homes very easily. Some owners even say that rescues are more loving, and seem to be grateful for their new life. The majority of rats brought to AusRFS displays to meet and greet with the public are rescues that our members have adopted. Rescues also win just as many prizes at rat shows as those from top breeders. In fact rats adopted from our Rescue Service have won the Rat of the Year Award several times.
Unfortunate pasts & happy endings
Over the years we have saved rats from some terrible situations. Left abandoned in their cages with no food or water, in flats after their owners have moved out, put out on the nature strip for hard rubbish collection, in a rubbish skip, in a box on a park bench in over 40o heat and left out in the cold & rain.
On a few occasions we have been called on to take in large groups from animal hoarders. Either after the people concerned have realised that the situation has got out of hand, or after the animals have been seized by the authorities. The three largest groups consisted 300, 147 and 119 rats varying in ages from newborn to elderly.
Dealing with these large groups is a big stretch on the society’s financial resources as well as involving a lot of work, time and emotional commitment by our members who provide special care, socialisation and training where needed. But we always put the welfare of the rats first and each is treated as an individual - that’s what the AusRFS is all about.
Desexing
Our club subsidises the cost of the desexing surgery and we aim to desex as many of our rescue rats as possible as the health benefits (especially the prevention of mammary tumors in girls) and the guarantee of the rat not being bred from, makes the surgery very worthwhile.
However, not everyone can afford the higher adoption fee. So adopters have the choice of desexed or undesexed rats.
Rats need to weigh 300 grams before they can be desexed. The average rat reaches this weight at about 4 months. So if people adopting babies, want them desexed, they pay the adoption fee for a desexed rat and take the rat home. Then when the rat reaches 300 grams, the owner contacts our Rescue Co-ordinator, who makes the appointment with our vet. The owner usually drops the rat to the Rescue Co-ordinator the day before the operation and the co-ordinator transports the rat to and from the vet and keeps the rat overnight to ensure they have recovered fully from the anesthetic before going home. But we are flexible with this, and can take care of the rat for longer after their operation if the owner wishes.
Some of babies from the group of 147
rescued from an animal hoarder,
where they had been kept in horrific conditions.
Some of the babies from the photo above,
all grown up and happy in their forever homes.
Above: Bolt & Scrat.
Below: Tarquin
Some of rats from the group of 300
.
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RESCUES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
The rats available for adoption changes from day to day
as rats come into rescue and others are adopted.
HOW TO ADOPT
Please provide the information in the box bbelow to Julie McInnes, AusRFS Rescue Service Co-ordinator
along with a photo of your cage via the AusRFS email address ausrfs@ausrfs.org.au
Our Rescue Service phone number is 0414 864 278.
If there is no answer then please send a text with your name and phone number
and Julie will get back to you.
NOTE RE CAGES
New Owners PLEASE read this !!!
The main reason for delays in adoption is that new owners have purchased an unsuitable cages.
For information about what makes a suitable cage, please download the Cage Advice document from the Cages page under the About Pet Rats tab. This is especially important if you are new to rats, as a lot of cages advertised as being suitable for rats, are not suitable at all. Please, please check the bar spacing! This is the most common mistake new owners make. Don't waste your money on an unsuitable cage. If in doubt please contact us BEFORE purchasing to make sure the cage is suitable. Send us a link to the cage and we will check it for you. Our club also has a few cages available for purchase.
If you don’t have a cage yet then you are still welcome to submit an adoption application to start the adoption process. Once you have a cage please send a photo of it (not a stock or website photo) so we know you are rat-ready. Obviously you will need a suitable cage set up in an area of your house before you can take your rats home.
Location of rats
All rats are with foster carers located in different locations around Melbourne and some rural areas but we can often make arrangements to drop rats off to their new homes if distance is an issue.
ADOPTION FEES
$45 undesexed male or female
$90 desexed male ($45 for the rat + $45 towards desexing*)
$120 desexed female ($45 for the rat + $75 towards desexing*)
* Note re desexing costs
Our vet gives our Rescue a discount on desexing. However, even with this discount, the surgery is still not cheap, so we make a substantial loss on each desexed rat we adopt:-
MALE
Desexing fee $148.50. If adopter contributes $45, the AusRFS pays the balance of $103.50
FEMALE
Desexing fee $189.00. If adopter contributes $75, the AusRFS pays the balance of $114.00
Taking into account the large number of rats that we have desexed, this expense is a huge drain on our Rescue’s finances. We therefore ask, if adopters are in a financial position to do so, that they consider contributing a little more than the fee listed above when adopting a desexed rat.
Any addition contribution is greatly appreciated
and helps us continue helping rats in need.
Please provide the following information in order to find your perfect match
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Name
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Phone number
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Suburb/area
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How many rats you were thinking of adopting?
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Male or female?
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Approximate age?
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Do you need the rat to be desexed?
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When were you thinking of adopting?
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If the rat is for a child – how old are they?
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Will these be your first rats? If not - what experience you have with rats.
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If you currently have rats – what do you have?
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Do you have a cage? If so what type/size and what is the largest spacing between the bars. Please send a photo of your cage.
Please email your answers and photo of cage (if you have one) to:
DONATIONS
Donations of any amount are always gratefully received.
All donations to the AusRFS are automatically allocated to Rescue Service to be used solely for food, housing and medical treatment
for the wards of our Rescue Service.
Our account details are:
BSB: 033060
Account No: 328949
Name: Australian Rat Fanciers Society Inc.
Please use the word Donation as a reference to the payment and include your name if possible. Please also send an email to ausrfs@ausrfs, to alert us to the donation and allow us to express our gratitude.