SAN FRANCISCO —
While authorities are trying to keep track of a San Francisco woman who was breeding rats in her room at a residential hotel and releasing them in public parks, they say their hands are tied as far as trying to stop her.
The "Rat Girl" is actually 43 years old with a big thing for rats. While living in a public housing room, she ended up with several hundred of them. They tunneled into neighboring rooms and elsewhere in the neighborhood. Following her removal from the location, the Public Health Department exterminated a thousand rats in the room and neighboring areas.
That whole "compassionate" approach of not involuntarily committing peple who clearly need psychiatric treatment has been going on since the 1970s. It was a Grand Experiment, but it's time to own up to the fact that it's failed. There's nothing "compassionate" about dumping them onto the streets, or even into public housing, when the underlying issues aren't being addressed.
