Eadie was born in one of three rodent mass breeding facilities in California, where she was a number among thousands of pinkies. By chance, her litter was allowed to survive, and Eadie lived long enough to be weaned from her mother. Although Eadie was relatively lucky, many young rats perish from starvation or disease when they are weaned too early by breeders eager for those few extra dollars. Especially when the 'end product' is never intended to be a companion animal.

Eadie was probably not handled by a human being until she was thrown into a shipping carton at the age of three weeks and sent to Pets Paradise, another large rodent wholesaler located in Phoenix, Arizona. Once in the Pets Paradise compound, Eadie would have been selected for a shipment to PETCO, and stuffed into yet another carton for the trip to Tucson.

Are you really surprised to learn such cartons often arrive at their destination filled with dead animals? When you purchase rats from pet stores, especially large chains, you are supporting the broker network. PETCO is notorious for selling domestic 'pet' rats that are diseased, abused, mutilated, and genetically flawed - and those animals are the product of brokers who view the innocent creatures they sell as commodities and products.

According to Robert Johnson (06/13/1999 The Independent, London ) the breeding of rats and mice in the United States has ballooned into a business worth 235 million dollars per year. And approximately 93% of those rats and mice are destined to be sold as feeders.

Although pet stores may purchase their rats and mice from a USDA certified facility, that fact is misleading. Rats and mice are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act, the law enabling USDA/APHIS inspectors to monitor mass breeding facilities for compliance with humane standards of care. Therefore, even if an APHIS inspector does witness cruelty to a rat or mouse during inspection, he/she is not expected to report such cruelty, and the incident will never become part of the permanent record. In the state of Arizona, no other agency has jurisdiction over the rats and mice held at mass breeding facilities.

From 1997, the year Eadie was born, until 2002, Pets Paradise was inspected by APHIS inspectors three times: 10/7/99, 4/11/2001, 1/17/2002. No mention was made of the rats.