Rats Who Care…
– – It’s OK to call someone a “dirty rat,” as rats do get dirty; it might not, however, be scientifically supportable to refer to rats as uncaring in light of a new University of Chicago study on empathy-driven behavior in rodents.
Appearing in the prestigious journal Science, the results of this landmark study show that untrained laboratory rats will free restrained companions, even when those restrained rats are not in pain. Rats will even choose to free other restrained rats when offered the alternative activity of feasting on chocolate! Greater love hath no rat than this…
The new study on rats sets a precedent for future research on sentient and empathic animals; it’s also safe based on what we know to assume that numerous other animals display empathy, which is thought to have deep evolutionary, biochemical, and neurological underpinnings.
Findings of empathy in animals may force uncomfortable questions about how humans treat animals, especially with regards to horrific invasive research. Birds, rats, and mice are presently excluded from some federal legislative definitions of animals, with only about 1% of the animals used in research in the United States currently protected by legislation.
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FOXSYLVANIA 
December 28, 2011 at 11:56 pm
And, watch out if some of them get into neglected bins of steroid-enhanced cattle feed!*
*A “DEADLY EYES” (see Imdb) reference.
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December 29, 2011 at 2:41 am
Sounds like a SyFy channel original Saturday night movie there!
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December 29, 2011 at 5:38 pm
If they did, it would technically be a remake, as the Canadian original came out in the 1980’s (starring Sam Groome and Sara Botsford).
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