Rat abandoned outside Colonial Heights Animal Control up for adoption Monday

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (WRIC) — Animal shelter staff discovered another abandoned animal in Colonial Heights last Wednesday — but this time, it was a rat.

According to the animal shelter, staff members arrived at the facility at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4, and found what they thought were donations, but turned out to be an abandoned rat in a tote bin along with a bag of wood shavings.

Staff members looked at security camera footage and determined that the rat had been outside of the facility for at least 12 hours.

“This is not or never the answer to get rid of any pet no matter species, breed [or] size,” said the animal shelter in a Facebook post . “There was a hole in the lid which was big enough that this little guy could’ve easily escaped.”

In the post, the shelter said that, since the rat was abandoned outside of the shelter without the owner doing the proper paperwork, they would have to hold onto him for at least ten days before it can be adopted.

On Friday, Sept. 13, the animal shelter posted an update, saying that no one had come to claim the rat and that he would be available for visitation and adoption applications starting Monday, Sept. 16. The shelter said he would need a new enclosure.

This is at least the third time an animal has been found abandoned in Colonial Heights in the last four months. On Friday, June 29, a dog was found tied to a tree in the parking lot of a PetSmart and on Thursday, Aug. 22, a puppy was found tied to the side of a building on Boulevard.

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