Animal control officials in Boston were looking after 71 rats Saturday after their owner became overwhelmed and surrendered them.
The woman took home a couple of rodents from her local pet store three months ago because she didn't want to see them become food for snakes, the Boston Globe reported.
But the rats multiplied until she had dozens on her hands, the paper said.
Unable to care for them, she surrendered them Thursday to the MSPCA-Angell Adoption Center in Boston.
MSPCA veterinary technician Andrea Ruplis said the rats were "mostly healthy, despite the owner's inability to take proper care of them."
They are being examined for diseases and will then be put up for adoption.
Earlier in January, a similar population predicament overwhelmed a Massachusetts man who turned his horde of 94 hamsters over to another MSPCA shelter.
The organization said the influx of rodents needing adoption has put a strain on its resources. Some of the hamsters were to be sent to shelters in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, according to the Eagle Tribune.
Massachusetts woman surrenders 71 pet rats
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