A man is surrendering hundreds of pet mice, possibly more than 1,000, from his home in New Hampshire after he became overwhelmed by the ever-growing number in his possession, an animal rescue said Thursday.
The New Hampshire SPCA is seeking help from the public to adopt or foster the pet mice, also known as fancy mice, or to donate to support a situation the organization has never seen before.
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"We have never seen anything like this. And the longer we wait to get all of the mice out of their terrible living conditions," said NHSPCA Director of Animal and Veterinary Services Savannah Alcero said in a statement, "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."
The first 73 mice arrived at the NHSPCA's facility in Stratham on Monday; the man said he had 150 in his home, but later clarified that he had 150 tanks containing mice, and each can have more than a dozen inside, according to the organization.
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Over the next two days, NHSPCA employees drove to the home on the Seacoast; they had collected nearly 400 by Thursday, the organization said, with another roughly 400 still to be collected.
They also noted that male and female mice were in the same tubs, and reproducing — some mice brought to the shelter were pregnant, and gave birth there. The newborn mice could bring the total that the NHSPCA has to care for above 1,000.
The animal shelter has asked others across New England to help take in some of the mice, which were living in filthy tubs that apparently hadn't been cleaned for a while, the NHSPCA said.
Fancy mice are friendly, curious and social — some are being placed for adoption starting Thursday. Learn more about how to adopt the NHSPCA's mice here: https://nhspca.org/adoptable-animals/small-animals
