California IN BRIEF : SAN CARLOS : 295 Rats Removed From Pair’s Condo

Four animal control officers spent almost five hours hauling 295 rats from a condominium where they apparently had free rein, the larger rats sharing the bed and furniture with the human occupants--Clifford Fields, 36, and his wife, Christine, 33, police said. “The big ones were very nippy, especially the one in the wall that almost took my finger off,” said Chris DeVeaux of the Humane Society. The rats were taken to the pound to be killed. Police Sgt. Leonard Hoskins said some of the rats had chewed their way into the walls of neighboring units, prompting horrified residents to call police. The Fields couple took three pet rats with them when they moved in last November, said Hoskins.