LOVELAND — The Larimer Humane Society in Loveland became the beneficiary of more than 80 domesticated rats Friday after animal control officers rescued the rodents from two Fort Collins natural areas.

A concerned citizen called the Larimer Humane Society on Thursday evening to report about 30 apparently tame rats at the North Shields Ponds Natural Area in Fort Collins, officials said.

Humane Society officers rescued some of the rats Thursday, and then another call came in Friday morning that echoed the concerns of the first: The caller had found dozens of friendly rats at Riverbend Ponds Natural Area, about six miles away from the first location.

The rats ran up to passersby and begged for food, even climbing up a person’s leg, said Jason Downs, one of the animal protection and control officers who responded to the calls.

“They were cold, and they wanted to eat,” Downs said.

Downs said he used some peanut butter cookies his children had made for him to lure the rats out of the bushes. It took officers about an hour to round up the rats with nets and by grabbing them by the tails (“politely,” Downs said).

Officers determined from the similar behavior and number of animals that the rats at both locations were most likely abandoned by the same person.

Humane Society spokeswoman Kaylene Weingardt said the person who released the rats clearly did so without concern for their well-being. Temperatures dipped into the low single digits Thursday night.

“An individual had abandoned these domesticated pets in an inappropriate way in the wild, putting them at risk in the cold weather, at risk from local wildlife … and these rats could potentially damage the natural area in which they were dumped because it’s not their natural habitat,” Weingardt said. “So, we are just looking for information so we can figure out who did this, because it’s not an OK thing to do.”

If found, the abandoner would most likely be charged with one count of animal cruelty per rat, Downs said. Cruelty to animals is a class 1 misdemeanor in Colorado; a first offense can lead to maximum $1,000 fine and six to 18 months of jail time.

“We’re asking the public for help — if they know who abandoned the rats in the natural areas, to please contact us regarding this,” Downs said.

Downs and Weingardt said the Humane Society aims to help people in situations like this one.

“We are here to help if people are no longer able to care for animals,” Weingardt said. “The appropriate thing for them to have done would have been to bring all 80 rats to us to surrender them, and we would have taken care of them instead of abandoning them.”

“Because we have an open-door policy … and we’re here for every type of animal.” Downs said.

The rats can be handled by people, and most seem to be in good health despite their ordeal, animal protection officers said. They will be held indefinitely and will be put up for adoption, although Weingardt said Saturday morning that the rodents aren’t available to adopt yet.

Bill Porter, director of animal protection and control, said the total is a high number of rats for the shelter to handle, and the Humane Society will work with its partners around the state to help the rats find permanent homes.

“Hopefully there’s some rat lovers out in our community,” Weingardt said.

Julia Rentsch: 970-699-5404, jrentsch@reporter-herald.com.