An animal shelter in New Hampshire is struggling to manage an unprecedented surge in mice after a man handed over what he initially claimed to be “150 mice” last week. The reality, however, was much more intimidating.
“When he first arrived, he said he had 150 mice,” Lisa Dennison, the executive director of the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NHSPCA), told CNN. It soon emerged that the man had not 150 mice, but 150 containers filled with them.
The sheer volume of rodents, combined with their rapid reproduction, has turned into a huge challenge for both the man and the shelter. “The breeding of the mice has just created this enormous problem for him,” Dennison added.
The man brought three large plastic tubs with 73 mice to the shelter on November 11, saying he was unable to cope with their growing population. Over the week, NHSPCA staff visited his home multiple times, transporting van loads of mice to the shelter. The total count now nears 1,000.
According to the shelter, the conditions in which the mice were kept were deplorable. They were living in filthy plastic tubs that hadn’t been cleaned in a long time, NHSPCA said. “We have never seen anything like this. And the longer we wait to get all of the mice out of their terrible living conditions, the greater the likelihood is that the numbers will continue to grow. With a gestation period of just around 20 days, mice can reproduce at an alarming rate,” said Savannah Alcero, Director of Animal and Veterinary Services at the NHSPCA.
At the shelter, efforts are underway to manage the influx. “We were separating the males and females. And now we have many females on pregnancy watch because they breed rapidly,” Dennison said.
While 18 mice have already been adopted, many others have been sent to regional welfare organisations. Among the adopters is Elisha Murray, who decided to take home four female mice. “We’ve always had small rodents as pets — rats, mice, hamsters, the whole nine — so I just figured I could help out. We have the whole setup, everything I need at home already,” she was quoted as saying by AP.
Dennison, surrounded by containers stacked with mice, has appealed to the public to step forward and help. “Help these mice find wonderful new homes. They are great fun,” Dennison said.
