It's an age-old story: Kid becomes a teen and forgets all about previously beloved pet. Anyone need a nice rodent?
By BRADY DENNIS, Times Staff Writer
Published June 16, 2005
ST. PETERSBURG - This isn't about the rat as much as it's about the girl. She turns 13 on Friday.
When she first saw the rat months ago, at her older sister's house, she begged to bring it home as a pet.
She signed a pact that hangs on the refrigerator: "I, Lisa Marie White, will clean the kitchen every night . . ."
She spent her weekly allowance buying special food called Regal Rat. She bought rat toys. She walked around the house with the rat perched on her shoulder while she talked on the phone. She talked to it. She placed its cage beside her bed.
She named it Mickey.
Now, months later, everything has changed. Well, Mickey didn't change. But the girl did.
She began noticing boys, just as they began noticing her blond hair and big brown eyes. She loves skateboarding and started spending more and more time at the local skate park. Then school ended and summer arrived, and she's hardly ever home.
Mickey fell victim to The Teenager, the great abandoner of pets. It has happened thousands of times over the years, in thousands of households, to thousands of dogs and cats and, in a home off First Avenue S, to a rat.
Now Mickey's fate has fallen into the hands of Guy Leinbach, the fiance of Lisa's mother. He feeds Mickey fresh broccoli topped with peanut butter. He sometimes lets the rodent out of its cage.
He knows that every time he wanders down the hallway toward the bathroom, the rat will be peering out of its cage with those beady little eyes, looking helpless. Sometimes Leinbach closes the door or turns out the light.
"And then I feel guilty," he says. "(But) if you leave him out, you get rat turds all over the place."
And so, they are seeking a new home for Mickey, rat poop and all. The rat comes with a cage, toys and a bag of Regal Rat food. Mickey is quiet and soft. And free.
Any takers?
Teenagers need not inquire.
-- Anyone interested in adopting Mickey can call 727 463-6060 or e-mail guyleinbach@gmail.com
