Rats! Oklahoma City stuck with 30,000 mice

Oklahoma - Oklahoma City police have succeeded in busting an illegal rodent farm but now authorities are faced with the problem of what to do with 30,000 white mice seized in the raid.

Police raided the rodent farm on Thursday night, responding to a tip from a citizen who complained about a foul stench emanating from a barn in the south of the city.

When police arrived, they found the mice living in cages soaked with urine and faeces, said Oklahoma City animal welfare supervisor Steve Lira. He said the mice were being raised as live feed for snakes kept as pets.

Lira said officials are now trying to determine what to do with the mice, which are being stored in numerous plastic cages in a garage at the city's animal control facility.

"We have completely emptied our truck port where the vehicles come in and have it totally filled with mice. We don't know what to do with them. They are sitting and waiting," Lira said.

"This thing (farm) was illegal," Lira said, adding that a person can raise rodents if he or she has the proper equipment and the proper forms and zoning, but the mouse ranch did not meet any of those standards.

Police charged Steven Burgess, 44, of Oklahoma City, with three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in connection with the unsanitary and unhealthy conditions in which the mice were kept.

Burgess reportedly told officials he wanted the city to take control of the mice because there were too many of them for him manage.

"He told us he wanted out of the mouse business," Lira said.  -- Reuters

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