New Jersey Man Faces Charges for Killing Rat
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HILLSIDE, N.J. — Frank Balun faces charges of needlessly killing a rat that was eating his tomato plants.
Balun, 69, says he caught the rat and called the Humane Society to remove it from his squirrel trap. Then the rat tried to escape before help arrived, so he whacked it with a broom handle. The Associated Humane Societies slapped him with two summonses and he has to appear in court Aug. 24.
“This is absolutely preposterous,” said Angelo Bonano, administrator for the Hillside Board of Health. “We encourage people to kill rats because they carry disease.”
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