Dawn Burke (Dawn) and Don Burke (Don)
Dawn: I always thought of rats as filthy, disease-carrying animals. But, this neighbor of mine had pet rats. They were just so soft and cuddly. And years later, I stopped by a pet shop on a whim, so that was how I got Druscilla. I brought her in, and you just said, ”Ok, I’ll put the cage together.” [Laughter]
Don: And then eventually we brought home Asha and Berka.
Dawn: And Annie, Mattie and Lex.
Don: It grew very quickly from one rat to 72.
Dawn: I have to brag that we were the very first rat sanctuary in the United States to have our 501(c)(3) status. We have all the cages on tables, and we leave them open. Someone who came in the other day said it’s like the Taj Mahal for rats–they have lots of space. We like to have it that way because we’re trying to make up for how people mistreat them and raise them as snake food and just throw them away.
Don: So why don’t you talk about Annie?
Dawn: People call it their heart rat– that one rat that they never forget. And Annie would run to the door when she heard the doorbell to greet everybody. Everybody loved her so much.
Don: Remember she was your own private teeth cleaner?
Dawn: Yes. [Laughs] People call them Rodentists. And Annie was really gentle, and she would get back to my molars, you know, and pick food out. [Laughter] I just adored her.
Don: Sometimes people don’t realize just what rats can become. They can be a real pet.
Dawn: The other night I was giving Bartholomew his medicine, and I felt something cross my feet. And Domino had gotten off the table, and he came looking for me.
Don: That was the most surprising thing to me is that they don’t just scurry on the floor like you’ve seen rats do. It’s like when they’re really happy they hop like bunnies.
Dawn: And that’s one of the things we’re trying to teach people is that they have a heart.
And I want to thank you for doing The Rat Retreat with me. I know it’s cost us a lot of money and put us in the hole financially having 72 rats at one time. But, I’m just really grateful to have you as a partner to do this with me.
Don: And the feeling is mutual.
[Music]
Dawn: Bernadette and Barney.
Don: Blanche.
Dawn: Bear.
Don: Patsy.
Dawn: Jack Frost and his pink eyes.
Don: George.
Dawn: George, Vanessa and Savanah.
There was a time when Dawn Burke considered rats to be filthy animals. That was until a neighbor introduced her to them as pets. Eventually she brought a rat home from a pet shop and from there her collection of pet rats began to grow.