By Kevin Clerici
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

July 18, 2002

ENCINITAS – Responding to an animal abuse complaint, animal control
officers Monday found more than 20,000 rats living in squalid
conditions at a rat-breeding business.

Hundreds of rats were dead, in various states of decay, as other
rats tread over them. Hundreds more were sick or injured. Animal
control officers seized 68, of which more than two dozen were ailing
baby rats.

"The place is a mess," animal control Lt. Mary Kay Gagliardo said.

"The stench was overpowering," she said. "Officers were gagging.
They couldn't stay inside the barn for longer than a minute to three
minutes at a time."

Peter Springer and Bob Turner have owned the commercial rat-breeding
business, Rats R Us, for eight years.

Springer, 61, said yesterday that he has a permit to raise them on
his 11/2-acre property on Union Street near Saxony Road, where the
partners produce up to 12,000 rats a month.

He sells live and frozen rats for about $1 each to distributors in
Los Angeles, who then sell the rodents to pet stores and zoos.

Animal control officials said the market is down for rat breeders,
and a price increase this spring has reduced demand.

Springer said the animal control officials "don't understand the rat
business. We attempt to care for them, but some will die."

Springer told the animal control officials that snakes come out of
hibernation this time of year and demand usually surges for the
popular reptile food. He said he sent 3,000 rats to Los Angeles on
Tuesday, an increase of 500 rats from last week's order.

"Granted, they probably caught me when the place is at the worst
it's ever been," Springer said. "Our job is to anticipate the
market. And almost invariably we end up with more rats than they
need."

Officials didn't cite Springer on Monday, but will conduct another
inspection early next week to see if improvements have been made.

The officials plan to hold a hearing later next week to determine
what standards the owners must follow in caring for the animals.

"Every creature, even a rat, deserves to live in a clean environment
and breathe clean air," Gagliardo said.

Officials are researching what limitations they can place on the
business. A big dispute between Springer and animal control
officials is over the number of rats per cage. Gagliardo said a
veterinarian has recommended no more than 10 to 15 per cage. Monday,
officers found cages with 50 to 60.

Springer said it takes 15,000 to 20,000 rats to maintain his
operation, but Gagliardo said that when the business was inspected
in April 2001, records showed it had no more than 6,000.

___________

San Diegan Accused Of Cruelty To 35,000 Rats
Rodents Sold To Pet Stores, Zoos For Food

POSTED: 11:04 a.m. PDT August 13, 2003

SAN DIEGO -- A North County man faces possible prison time for
allegedly raising 35,000 rats in cruel and filthy conditions.

Peter Springer of Encinitas, Calif., will be arraigned next month on a
felony charge of inflicting needless suffering and cruelty to the
rodents, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Springer, 62, was co-owner of a company called Rats R Us. The company
operated for nearly a decade on 1.5 acres on Union Street near Saxony
Road. It sold rats to pet stores and zoos, mostly as food.

Prosecutors decided to file charges after animal control officers
inspected the rat-breeding operation in June. Inspectors found tens of
thousands of rodents packed into filthy cages. Some were so overcrowded
that the animals struggled to breathe, according to the newspaper.

The inspectors reported finding hundreds of decomposing rat carcasses
in the cages. Many other rats were determined to be sick or injured.

If convicted, Springer could be sentenced to three years in prison.

________

Owner of rat business faces charge of cruelty
By Daniel Evans
STAFF WRITER

August 13, 2003

An Encinitas businessman is facing a criminal charge of mistreating some
35,000 rats he was raising.

Peter Springer could face up to three years in prison if convicted of
allegations filed by the District Attorney's Office. The rats - some
live, some frozen - were sold, mostly as food, to pet stores and zoos
throughout Southern California.

Springer, who was not available for comment, is scheduled to be
arraigned Sept. 17 in Vista Superior Court on a felony charge of
inflicting needless suffering and cruelty to the rodents. According to
court records, he has not retained an attorney.

During a raid on the property by San Diego County Animal Control
officers in July 2002, Springer complained the officers didn't
understand the rat business.

"We attempt to care for them," he said at the time, "but some will die."

Springer, 62, and business partner Bob Turner - who is Springer's
son-in-law - have owned Rats R Us for nearly a decade. Deputy District
Attorney Katherine Flaherty said prosecutors also considered filing
charges against Turner, but decided there was not enough evidence to
link him to the allegations.

The charge was filed after an inspection of the facility by animal
control officers June 26, according to court documents. A letter
notifying Springer of the charge was mailed last week.

Lt. Mary Kay Gagliardo of animal control said her office has received
complaints about the rat-breeding operation since 1996.

Gagliardo said the inspection was a follow-up to the July 2002 raid.
During the inspection two months ago, officers said they found tens of
thousands of rats living in squalid conditions at the facility, a
11/2-acre property on Union Street near Saxony Road. Their number, which
was estimated at 20,000 a year ago, had nearly doubled by June.

Some of the rats were packed into cages, struggling to breathe,
according to officers. Hundreds of other rats, in various stages of
decay, were found dead, and live rats scurried over the dead. Scores of
other rats were found sick or injured, Gagliardo said.

"The stench was overwhelming," she said. "

Gagliardo said all of the living rats were euthanized with carbon
dioxide, a process that she said took "days." She said the most recent
complaint came from Maggie Houlihan, an Encinitas councilwoman.
Houlihan, who lives up the hill from Rats R Us, called, said Gagliardo,
when dying rats began crawling on her property.

Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

___________

Rat breeder receives probation, public service for animal neglect

By Dana Littlefield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

October 10, 2003

VISTA – An Encinitas man accused of mistreating thousands of rats he
raised as part of a breeding business has been placed on three
years' probation.

Peter Springer, 62, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of animal
neglect for keeping about 25,000 rats in squalid conditions at Rats
R Us, the business he owned with his son-in-law. He was originally
charged with a felony and faced up to three years in prison.

As part of the plea agreement, Springer cannot own or breed any
rodents while on probation or possess any animal other than his dog.
If he violates his probation, he could serve up to a year in jail.

Under the sentence issued Wednesday, Springer also is required to
pay three visits to a therapist for counseling and serve 10 days
picking up trash on the highway.

"I think the sentence is appropriate," prosecutor Katherine Flaherty
said outside court. "His lack of criminal history absolutely has to
be taken into account."

Flaherty also pointed out the difference between animal neglect and
animal cruelty, a crime that carries a stiffer penalty.

"The effect may be the same, but the law has to look at the intent
behind it" she said, noting that animals suffer and sometimes die as
result of either crime.

Springer and his son-in-law, Bob Turner, who was not charged, co-
owned the now-defunct breeding business for nearly a decade. The
rats were sold, mostly as animal food, to pet stores and zoos
throughout Southern California.

The neglect charge was filed after county Animal Control officers
inspected the facility June 26, according to court documents.
Officers said they found tens of thousands of rats packed in close
quarters at the business, on Union Street near Saxony Road.

Officers said the rats were in cramped cages, struggling to breathe.
Dead rats were found packed into the same containers as live ones,
and many were sick or injured. Those rats were euthanized over
several days.

Springer's attorney, Philip Gagnon, said outside court that the
descriptions of his client's property were overblown. If it were
a "hellhole," as some of the authorities had stated, the rats would
have been more aggressive, he said. Instead, the rats were docile,
Gagnon said.

After the hearing, Springer said he was targeted by neighbors and
county authorities with extremist animal-rights views who don't
understand the rat business. He sold his property last month and is
preparing to move.

"Animal Control is way left of center as you might expect because
you don't apply for the job unless you love animals," he said. "But
animal lovers don't understand a businessman's commercial interests
versus the homeowner's pet."

Springer said he spent eight hours a day watching over the rats and
knew when they were sick, distressed or otherwise unhappy. "I could
almost talk to them," he said.

But Maggie Houlihan, an Encinitas resident and councilwoman who
lives next door to Springer's business, said that the stench from
the property was so overwhelming that she had to keep the windows of
her home closed during the summer months.

She said she and other neighbors complained about the property for
years, not only because of the animal-rights issue but because parts
of the property were so unkempt that it posed a risk to air and
water quality.

"That has nothing to do with animal rights and everything to do with
health and safety," Houlihan said.

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