A woman caused a stir inside a grocery store after she was spotted at the checkout with her pet rats perched on each of her shoulders.
The woman was seen at the Spudshed grocery store in Ellenbrook, north east of Perth, during peak shopping hours around 5pm.
Other shoppers were “shocked” to see the rodents around the fresh produce.
The Western Australian grocery chain, owned by the Galati Group, said only service animals, not pets, were allowed into the store.
A woman shocked customers at a Spudsheds grocery store in Ellenbrook, north east of Perth, after being seen at the checkout with a pet rat on each shoulder (pictured).
One shopper said he was shocked to think that the woman “thought it was okay to come to the supermarket with rats.”
“It was amazing that you found that in a supermarket the last thing I want to find is rat droppings in my purchases,” he said. Perth now.
Galati Group marketing manager Melissa Osterhage said the rats were not detected until they reached the checkout and the incident was not “reported to the operations team.”
‘Spudshed welcomes service animals, but pets are not allowed in the store. There are signs communicating this to our customers,” Ms Osterhage told the publication.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Spudshed for comment.
While rats are associated with the Black Death, a disease that killed about 50 million people in Europe in the 14th century and is transmitted by fleas carried by rodents, many have decided to keep them as pets because of their social and loving nature.
A spokesperson for Spudshed said staff did not notice the rodents until the woman was at the checkout and assured customers that only service animals are allowed in the store.
Contrary to popular belief that rats are dirty creatures, when kept as pets in a clean environment, their grooming habits make them quite hygienic.
The RSPCA describes rats as “incredibly rewarding animals to care for” because they are “intelligent and highly social animals.”
“They can form close bonds with their human carers, but they have complex needs and are not easy to care for,” the RSPCA website reads.
One of the rats on the woman’s shoulder, a bald rat, is known to be more active than its genetic relatives, but is more likely to bite if it feels threatened.