Over 300 rats extracted from ratty 1990s Dodge Ram van

Police officers in the San Diego area recently learned that if a van is a-rockin’, it might be because it’s home to a thriving colony of rats. Over 300 pet rats were living in a van with their owner, but were recently turned over to the San Diego Humane Society.

The woman and her rats lived in a 1990s Dodge Ram van parked near a convenience store in Del Mar, a city located about 20 miles up the Pacific coast from San Diego. Her rodent collection started when she purchased a pair of pet rats, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. She then realized her vanmates were a happy couple, and learned rats can give birth to 12 infants every four weeks.

The two original rats created a mischief made up of about 320 critters. They all lived in the Dodge, which thankfully featured a raised, camper-style roof, and their owner made sure they always had food and water. That didn’t stop them from eating their surroundings, including most of the van’s chewable parts. The owner finally reached out to local authorities when she realized she was in over her head, literally and metaphorically.

Law enforcement officials checked out the van and immediately realized “the situation was significant,” according to Capt. Danee Cook. The police department reached out to the San Diego Humane Society to find a solution. It took days to remove all the rats from the van. While you might assume they were destined for a research lab, they were actually given a clean bill of health and put up for adoption; $5 gets you a pair.

The owner nearly lost her job in the ordeal. She started living in the van after it broke down, according to a GoFundMe page set up in her name, and worked at the nearby Circle K convenience store in order to save up the money needed to fix it. Her employer denounced the van a health hazard and asked her to remove it from its parking lot, or find another place to work. Surrounding businesses — notably restaurants — wholeheartedly agreed with the store’s assessment. The $5,000 donated via GoFundMe helped her get the van towed so the rats could be extracted, and the junkyard would take it. She was also able to buy another car, so this tale has a happy ending.