Cuccinelli Fears D.C. Rats Will Occupy Virginia

Forget about illegal immigrants for a minute.  Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says he’s worried that D.C. is exporting its rats to Virginia.

Cuccinelli says a new District of Columbia law that governs how pest control operators must handle rats may result in entire rodent “families” being relocated across the Potomac River into Virginia. Adding to Cuccinelli’s concern are reports of growing rat infestations around the Occupy DC protests at Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square.

Cuccinelli said D.C.’s new rat law requires that rats and other vermin may not be killed but must be captured, preferably with their families, and relocated. Experts tell Cuccinelli that rats must be moved at least 25 miles or they will find their way back to their old haunts. The easiest way to solve that problem is to relocate the rats to Virginia, as Cuccinelli sees it.

“So we have real concerns about this ridiculous–ridiculous!–law and we’ve been pretty genial about dealing with D.C. on it,” said Cuccinelli, according to CNSNews.com. “But when you see an article like the ‘Rats Occupy Occupy DC,’ it points up the problem that we’re going to have in Virginia because of that–and because D.C’s really outrageous–outrageous!–treatment of these varmints who, for those who don’t remember their history, carried things like bubonic plague. I mean, these are true vermin.”

Cuccinelli says the new law also applies to raccoons, squirrels, skunks, and other animals that can carry rabies and other diseases.

The new law, it should be noted, applies only in D.C.  Virginians are still free, presumably, to blast away at the dread varmints.