This Rat Is So Fat It Required Rescue After Getting Stuck in Sewer Grate

Updated Feb. 27 2019, 3:07 p.m. ET

Animals are cute, but certain animals are nothing more than pests. I'm not talking about gnats or mosquitoes, I mean the ones that seem to be some variation of rat and contribute nothing beyond filth to the areas they frequent. Pigeons, seagulls, raccoons, possums, field mice, and of course the most unsightly of the bunch, actual rats.

Bubonic plague aside, rats exist simply to destroy. There will never be a pre-apocalyptic scenario where someone is happy to see rats. If they infest an area, it isn't uncommon to see folks lay out traps for them where they'll end up dying a pretty gruesome death, be it slow or fast.

Still, even these terrible creatures can elicit sympathy from us when they're vulnerable, and that's exactly what happened in Bensheim, Germany. 

The children of a member of Berufstierrettung Rhein Neckar, a local animal rescue and shelter in the city, spotted a portly rat that was stuck in a sewer grate.

It became evident that this chubster wasn't going to come out easily, so they called in the pros.

It seemed like the whole department was there to help get Ratatouille's best customer out of this grate so he could make it back in time for the evening special.

It might seem absurd, but just look at him. Hard to argue that this little guy isn't at least kind of cute.

It seemed as though an entire firehouse arrived on scene to handle Master Splinter's extraction. The photo below illustrates how the little guy got stuck. The gut made it through by the hind hips didn't lie; there's no way he was making it through that opening. Lucky for him some kids came across him before a stray cat did.

But then, it finally happened.

Freedom! This isn't the end of the story however. The two sisters that originally spotted the portly pest watched as rescuers freed the little guy and prepared a gift for their new heroes.

Adorable This was all clearly done to appease the children who saw a living creature in distress and had to help somehow.

While we're not certain what happened to the rat after the fact, or if he'll be getting stuck yet again when he tries going back down, we do know that the city is now prepared to tackle any issues their resident rodents may have whole going from their homes to yours. You can watch the full video of the rescue below in case one gets stuck in your local manhole cover as well.

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