Now, it’s up to staff at the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Stratham to figure out how to care for the critters and what happens to them next. And no one expects that to happen overnight.
“It’s going to be a very long haul,” said Sheila Ryan, director of development and marketing at the NHSPCA,where shelter staff already have converted at least two rooms into rodent quarters, moving other animals to different wings to make room for the newcomers.
More mice were still en route to the shelter as of Monday, Ryan said, adding that shelter staff were making extra trips back to the man’s house to collect more of them.
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“We do get cases sometimes where people have, you know, 40 cats or 60 dogs,” Ryan said. They also take in mice “on a regular basis.” But the sheer numbers in this instance are different than anything the Stratham shelter has seen before.
Grady McKinnon, 2, of Nottingham, N.H., watches fancy mice inside the glass tanks. Some rodents already have found new homes.Charles Krupa/Associated Press
“My understanding is that they started off with a group of same-sex mice, and then added mice [of the opposite sex] to the mix, and breeding began,” said Ryan. The mice in the home were cohabitating and breeding in an uncontrolled way, she said.
Once mice start breeding, they can reproduce at a very fast pace, experts said.
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In fact, even allowing just a few pet mice to reproduce, it would only take around seven months to end up with 800, according to Matthew MacManes, a professor of genome enabled biology at the University of New Hampshire, whose research includes mice.
MacManes said he had never heard of anything like this happening before. “Usually people would understand and stop this far before,” he said.
Mice can reproduce from the time they’re about 6 weeks old, and pregnancy lasts around 20 days, so it would only take about eight or nine weeks to create a new generation, given litter sizes ranging from six to eight pups and no mortality, according to MacManes.
He said without predators, their growth can quickly become exponential.
“I assume that this is a man or a family that just loved these animals, and whatever happened, this just sort of got out of control,” he said. “Maybe they didn’t realize the speed with which these animals could reproduce.”
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Adoption coordinator Lexi Giannopoulos cradles one of the over 800 mice that were surrendered at the New Hampshire SPCA in Stratham, N.H.Charles Krupa/Associated Press
Ryan Calsbeek, a professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College, agreed: In the wild, predators keep rodents in check and can restore balance even if a population swells in a particular year.
But when mice are allowed to reproduce freely in the safety of captivity, “Your world can be overrun by rodents in very little time,” he said.
“I don’t know what this guy’s backstory is, if he was an enthusiast, or if he just accidentally had a breeding pair together and then didn’t know what to do with them, and things got out of hand,” said Calsbeek. “But either of those scenarios, if left unchecked, you can be overwhelmed readily.”
By Tuesday afternoon, Ryan estimated they had received at least 650 mice, and shelter staff had discovered a second species, taking in an additional 185 smooth-haired rats, which are only slightly larger than the fancy mice surrendered.Fancy mice — which come in a variety of colors — are a domesticated form of the house mouse that are sometimes raised to compete in shows.
She said given the right conditions, mice can make great, low-maintenance pets.
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“They’re really entertaining to have in your home, and they’re adorable,” she said.
Some of the rodents already have found newhomes. As of Monday, about 18 had been adopted, 50 had been placed on pregnancy watch in foster homes, and around 100 had been transferred to other animal shelters around the region from Connecticut, to Maine, and around New Hampshire, according to Ryan, who noted that more than 10 mice had to be euthanized because they were sick.
She said the community has responded with an outpouring of donations: tanks, food, treats, and wheels on which the rodents to play.
Still, Ryan said the process of adopting the rodents could take several months.
“It’s a niche market,” Ryan said. “Not everybody sees the joy in mice.”
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Some of the rodents are up for adoption by the NHSPCA. The organization also publishes a wish list online of needed items, and they accept donations to an SOS Fund for neglected animals.
Lexi Giannopoulos, adoption coordinator for the New Hampshire SPCA, loads four mice into a cardboard box. The mice were headed to a new home after being adopted from the shelter.Charles Krupa/Associated Press
Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.
Three people suffered injuries in a two-vehicle collision early Tuesday morning in Hooksett, New Hampshire.Courtesy of New Hampshore State
Three people suffered serious injuries Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash in Hooksett, N.H., police said.
The head-on collision happened around 5:40 a.m. on Interstate 293 northbound, State Police said.
Police said that Timothy Hubbard, 43, of Rome, Maine, was traveling south when he lost control of his car and crossed the median into oncoming traffic, police said.
Hubbard, his passenger, and the other driver were taken to hospitals to be treated for serious injuries, police said. The injures were not believed to be life-threatening.
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Police said speed was believed to be a factor in the crash, which is under investigation.
Hannah Goeke can be reached at hannah.goeke@globe.com.
Franklin, NH – Sara Jane (Sanford) Doherty, 79, of Franklin, New Hampshire, passed away peacefully at her home on June 11, 2026. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, Sara was born on June 5, 1947, in Hanover, New Hampshire, to Harold and Sadie (Pettengill) Sanford.
As the daughter of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee, Sara spent her childhood moving throughout New England, living in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. She graduated from high school in Hudson, Massachusetts, and later returned to New Hampshire, eventually settling in Franklin, where she made her home for more than forty years.
Sara built a successful career in the textile industry. She worked as a seamstress at Howland Originals before joining Star Specialty Knitting, where she began as a stitcher and, through hard work and determination, advanced to Plant Manager. She retired in 2003, and one of the greatest joys of her retirement was caring for several of her grandchildren, whom she adored.
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Sara was a remarkably talented and creative artisan. She sewed clothing for her children when they were young and later created outfits for her grandchildren and their dolls. She was a gifted painter and artist whose extraordinary drawings and paintings brought joy to those around her. An accomplished seamstress, knitter, crocheter, cake decorator, and musician, Sara had an exceptional ability to create beauty in many forms. Her handmade gifts and treasured creations will be cherished by her family for generations to come.
Her talent for cake decorating blossomed into a successful side business that spanned more than thirty years. Sara created hundreds of stunning and imaginative cakes, including wedding and birthday cakes for her own children and grandchildren. Her passion for baking was so well known that for many years her license plate proudly read “CAKES+.”
Sara also had a remarkable gift for bringing people together. She hosted countless family reunions, each one more creative than the last. With elaborate themes, games, prizes, delicious food, and endless laughter, she created memories that her family will treasure forever. She was also known for her generous holiday gatherings, often welcoming more than thirty family members and friends into her home for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Summers brought cherished Fourth of July cookouts by Webster Lake, where Sara delighted in decorating the waterfront and gathering loved ones to enjoy the annual boat parade.
Sara’s love of giraffes was known by all who knew her. She spent years collecting hundreds of them, giving each a special “G” name. Before her passing, she shared one of her favorites, “Geebri,” with her granddaughter Sydni, who is expecting Sara’s first great-grandchild.
Her warmth, creativity, generosity, and love of family touched everyone who knew her. To say she will be missed is a vast understatement. She was truly the heart of her family.
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Sara leaves behind her devoted husband of 43 years, Joel Doherty; her sons, Todd (Michelle) Chapman of Sanbornton, New Hampshire, and Paul (Cheryl) Chapman of Northfield, New Hampshire; her stepdaughters, Ali (Oliver) Frates of Amherst, New Hampshire, and Kate Hodge of Durham, New Hampshire; and her beloved grandchildren, Shelby, Sydni, Morgan, Owen, Duncan, Calum, Macy, and Elyse, and Step-grandchildren, Matthew, Jennifer, Eric, & Kevin.
Sara was predeceased by her parents.
Sara’s family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Franklin VNA for their rapid and seamless response in setting up hospice, and to The Payson Center for their dedication and care, which gave us more precious time with her.
A graveside service will be held on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 11:00 AM in Franklin Cemetery, Thompson Park in Franklin.
For more information or to leave the family an online condolence, please visit www.smartmemorialhome.com.
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Click here to sign the guest book or honor their memory with flowers, donations, or other heartfelt tributes
A staple of many New Hampshire town fairs, the pig scramble may soon look a little different.
A bill signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte last week requires the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture to create best practices for any event in which people compete to capture a pig. Those guidelines will be published before the 2027 fair season, so they won’t be in place for any fairs with pig scrambles this year, such as the upcoming Deerfield Fair in the fall.
Generally, a pig scramble involves people of the same age competing to capture pigs that have been let loose in a large pen. Contestants have to catch the pig in a drawstring bag, and the first one to do so can take the pig home.
Rep. Cathryn Harvey, a Democrat from Spofford, is the prime sponsor of the bill. She said each fair has different rules for their pig scrambles, meaning some can be more humane than others. One aspect of the events she hopes will change is the bags pigs are captured in.
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“They’re putting an animal in a plastic bag on a hot summer day,” Harvey said. “It isn’t a great idea.”
Although some fairs already use more breathable bags out of burlap, Joan O’Brien, president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League, said she’s also seen pigs being kept in plastic bags for long periods of time after the event. Not only would a burlap bag improve the pig’s ability to breathe in the heat, she said, but she also wants fairs to require participants to bring an animal carrier for the trip home. Her organization was ultimately in favor of the legislation.
“If you don’t have a carrier, you should not be allowed to leave your pig lying in a bag,” O’Brien said, adding that some fairs already ask contestants to bring carriers. “You should be taking them right home.”
The Deerfield Fair has implemented another rule that O’Brien and Harvey hope becomes part of statewide best practices — having parents supervise their child in the pen. O’Brien once witnessed a child hang a pig upside down by its legs and then lower it headfirst into the bag.
“In the heat of the moment, the kids get excited and they just do whatever it takes to get the pig in the bag,” O’Brien said. She said parents should work with the event referee to make sure their kid is handling the pig humanely.
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Harvey’s bill originally called for pig scrambles to be banned around the state, but both she and O’Brien feel that universal guidelines for fairs would still make the experience better for the animals. Even seemingly small things, Harvey said, like giving the pigs water after the scramble, would be an improvement to the current situation for them.
“I think that the bill will embolden people to speak up at these events,” O’Brien said. “If they think a pig is being mistreated, they’ll be able to say to themselves, ‘I know that there’s supposed to be a rule, so I’m going to say something.’ So I think that would be a good outcome.”
