Animal rescue workers asked to rehouse hundreds of homeless mice

Hundreds of tiny mice were facing death after their owner allowed his two pets to produce a 500-strong brood. But an Old Coulsdon animal rescue worker stepped in just in the nick of time to save them from the clutches of pest control.

Emma Semple, who runs Furry Friends animal rescue from her home in The Glade, is now desperately seeking owners for her new guests. A number of the mice are already pregnant which means she could end up with hundreds more if kindly residents don't come to the rescue soon.

Ms Semple said: "Mice make brilliant pets if people can handle them properly. These mice are very strong because they have been eating out of their previous owner's bin and anything they found lying around the house."



The previous owner, a man from Wales, suffered from mental-health problems and allowed the mice to take over his home. Rescue workers from the RSPCA found the creatures earlier this month.

Ms Semple took 500 mice from the same man in November. But sympathetic health workers left him with two mice for company – and once again they bred at an incredible rate.

Ms Semple said: "We were left with 1,700 mice (from the original batch and their children) and last week we homed our last two. Now it is starting all over again. If Furry Friends and charities like us didn't exist, the pest control man would have been called in. Some of the males do smell quite a bit, but we know we can find them homes."