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Rescued Hollywood Rat Pack Arrives In San Jose For Adoption

SAN JOSE (KCBS) - If you smell a rat in San Jose, you're not alone. A local pet store has opened its doors to more than a thousand rescued rodents that an animal shelter hopes to make available for adoption just in time for the holidays.

The rats came from a home featured on the A&E reality television series "Hoarders" courtesy of several non-profits who arranged for them to be driven up in a climate controlled 18-wheeler over the weekend.

KCBS' Betsy Gebhart Reports:

"One of his children brought home the classroom pet, and she was pregnant, and the sexes were not separated," said Janell Matthias of United Animal Nations.

A year and a half later, the rats—all of a type meant to be pets—had become an uncontrollable nuisance. Even the experts have had trouble managing the colony.

A makeshift maternity ward at the Notre Dame Avenue store has seen another 25 new babies since Saturday.

The rats must be quarantined for three weeks before anyone can take home a member of the Hollywood rat pack. Matthias expects nearly all of them will be considered safe for adoption.

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