History Main / TerrifyingPetStoreRat

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'', the titular hero and FairCop Beckett are moving through a hidden alcove in the ceiling when Beckett tells Castle that even if he's scared, she doesn't think he should be rubbing her neck. It wasn't him, but a rat, calmly sitting there. It barely protests when Castle lifts it off of Beckett by the tail.

The protagonist opens the cupboard in a haunted house and, terror of terrors, there's a rat inside. Everyone involved screams at the sight of the filthy diseased vermin. Except it looks like it's been recently bathed and brushed. And instead of fleeing or acting aggressive, it's looking expectantly at the actors for a treat. In really JustForFun/{{egregious}} cases it might even be white or multicolored instead of black or brown like a wild rat.

* In-Universe example in ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' where Victor stages a mice infestation in Anubis House to get the students out so he can search for the elixir Sibuna. It gets lampshaded when Fabian asks a teacher why all the mice look like they came from a pet store, which she refuses to answer.

** In the sixth-season Episode "The Killer in the Crosshairs", the VictimOfTheWeek is found crawling with sewer rats that are not only very healthy and well-groomed, but patiently hold still to be picked up and then voluntarily enter transport containers.

** Some evidence suggests that this may have been an extension of armadillos being native to California (among other places), where a lot of movies were shot, but sufficiently unknown outside of the American south at the time as to look freaky and bizarre to general audiences--same with the Jerusalem cricket also seen in Dracula's castle. Armadillos were also known to dig around in graveyards, leading to the belief that they were digging for the cadavers for food. The lost vampire film ''London After Midnight'' from 1927 (directed by Tod Browning, who would go on to direct Dracula) made use of an armadillo specially imported from Texas for the production.

* ''Film/SilverBullet'': A girl is startled into falling over when a rodent emerges from beneath a garage shelf. Said Terrifying Pet Store Rodent is a ''gerbil''.

* Jess Franco's 1970 film ''Count Dracula'' has a pack of howling wolves portrayed by well groomed and docile German shepherds, with said howling painfully dubbed in.

* ''Series/{{Vikings}}'': In Season 1, [[AdiposeRex King Aelle of Northumbria]] throws his captain of the guard into a SnakePit filled with plump, sleek, non-poisonous pythons. Said guard screams in terror as the calm, docile serpents slowly slither onto his lap and over his shoulder.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'', the titular hero and FairCop Beckett are moving through a hidden alcove in the ceiling when Beckett tells Castle that even if he's scared, she doesn't think he should be rubbing her neck. It wasn't him, but a rat, calmly sitting there. Said rat barely protests when Castle lifts it off of Beckett by the tail.

* In ''Series/TheTraitors'', one challenge features the contestants having to complete tasks in a terrifying room filled with things like insects and rats. Said rats are clearly harmless pets, and even have color patterns that are not typical of wild rats.

* Creator/NeilGaiman wanted The Beast Of London from ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' to be a wild boar, but the people who were sent to to the boar farms said they were too friendly, so they ended up using a Highland cow.

-->--Website/{{tumblr}} user '''fieldbears''' [[https://fieldbears.tumblr.com/post/686345779503366145/see-also-every-scummy-sewer-rat-used-as-set]][[note]]In truth, most rats used in film are girl rats, because boy rats have... rather significant testicles that would be offputting to audiences.[[/note]]

* ''Literature/RatmansNotebooks'': Done deliberately in ''Williard'', since the rats are ''supposed'' to be tame, well-groomed, and friendly because Willard takes care of them. It's just that they'll kill if they're told to.

* ''Film/Dracula1931'': The English-language production has a scene where Count Dracula introduces his "children of the night", which are implied to be supernatural monsters. The animals on screen sure look suspiciously like oppossums and armadillos. Of note is that oppossums have lower body temperatures compared to most mammals, and many human transmissible diseases won't survived inside them. [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting Likely a lucky coincidence]], though, armadillos are known to be disease vectors for leprosy but aren't exactly intimidating.
* ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'': Armadillos are seen wandering around Dracula's tomb in the opening scene.

-->--Website/{{tumblr}} user '''fieldbears''' [[https://fieldbears.tumblr.com/post/686345779503366145/see-also-every-scummy-sewer-rat-used-as-set]]

** On ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' two-parter "In A Mirror, Darkly," the Rottweiler dog portraying Porthos was noted by the producers and animal handlers to be "an even bigger baby than the regular Porthos," a small beagle.

* ''Film/TheHauntedMansion'': At one point, the son needs to get past spiders to get into the mausoleum. The spiders are harmless tarantulas (orange-kneed) and they're tame enough that he can move them with his hands. However, he ''is'' arachnophobic, so no matter what spider they used, he would still be frightened by it.

* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' does this extensively.

** The Alfa 177 canine in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Enemy Within" is supposed to be cute but also is supposed to be
a newly discovered life form, it is basically just a terrier of some sort wearing extra fur, and a fake horn and antennas.

* On ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' two-parter "In A Mirror, Darkly," the Rottweiler dog portraying Porthos was noted by the producers and animal handlers to be "an even bigger baby than the regular Porthos," a small beagle.

* Averted in ''Film/TheThing1982'', where the mysterious [[AnimalisticAbomination sled dog]] that the main characters take in -- although a beautiful, well-groomed animal -- is nonetheless an extremely unsettling presence due to the performance of the animal actor, a wolf/dog hybrid named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jed_(wolfdog) Jed]].
** Even in HeroicDog / NobleWolf roles -- as in ''Film/TheJourneyOfNattyGann'' and the two ''Literature/WhiteFang'' movies -- Jed was quite capable of averting this trope, and could be extremely threatening when the scene called for it.

* In ''Series/MythicQuest'' a rat that's in the office is clearly a well fed domestic rat with a white belly. And despite being put in a container with its pups it stays docile even as people are holding up the container to stare at it.

* In ''Series/MythicQuest'' a rat that's in the office is clearly a well fed domestic rat with a white belly.

See also {{Slurpasaur}}, a.k.a. [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever Attack of the Fifty-Foot]] Terrifying Pet Store Lizard. For actual Terrifying Pet Store Rats, see YouDirtyRat

* ''Film/{{Holes}}'': The deadly "yellow-spotted lizards" are played by bearded dragons, which are harmless and popular as pets. At moments when the lizards have to act particularly menacing, the film averts this trope using CGI; however, in most of their appearances they are clearly Terrifying Pet Store Lizards. Likely a NecessaryWeasel in that of the three species that inspired the yellow spotted lizard, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_monster gila monster]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaded_lizard Beaded Lizard]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horned_toad Horned Toad]], the first two are in fact quite irritable and dangerously venomous, and the horned toad is endangered -- putting all three of the "realistic" options solidly out of play. The bearded dragon, however, is neither, and rather closely resembles the descriptions in the book when given a dye job.

* PlayedWith InUniverse, in a sense, in ''Film/TheSuicideSquad''. Ratcatcher's favorite rat, Sebastian, is-- like his owner-- [[YouDirtyRat a little grimy]], but [[ResourcefulRodent friendly, helpful, and well-socialized]]. But even after being reassured that he's harmless and tame, Robert "Bloodsport" DuBois is ''still'' terrified of him, because his [[AbusiveParents abusive father]] used to [[FreudianExcuse lock him in a box of rats]].

A variant of this trope instead features common cats and dogs, either as themselves, used as stand-ins for wolves or wild felines, or put in costumes to represent monsters of various sorts. These will be intended to appear menacing, aggressive and dangerous, but the actual animal actors themselves will be tame and socialized animals. This often leads to dramatic scenes featuring supposedly vicious dogs with happily wagging tails, lolling tongues and other signs of excitement for play, or cats who will let themselves be picked up and handled or simply sniff, bat or investigate their putative victims, without a trace of the snarls and bristling fur of aggressive dogs or the folded ears and distinctive yowls and hisses of angry or scared cats -- or, alternatively, the sounds of angry cats or dogs dubbed over animals that are clearly nothing of the sort.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' features an animated version. Remy is supposed to be a common street rat, but his looks (and temperament at that) are of a pet rat. It's almost impossible for a wild-born rat to be Remy's Russian Blue-looking color.

This is generally caused by the fact that wild animals are [[NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals really hard to work with]]. A wild rat might panic and flee realistically, but getting it to sit still long enough for the actors to show up is a challenge, as is anything involved in moving it. And the SPCA/Humane Society/local equivalent would be likely to object, too, since there's a much higher chance of the [[NoAnimalsWereHarmed animal or human handlers being injured]], which helps no one, so this trope is one of the AcceptableBreaksFromReality when it's done for safety's sake. So as far as most directors are concerned, a tame ball python that barely moves is usually a better choice than a deadly jungle snake, especially since [[BellisariosMaxim no one will notice the difference anyway.]] Strangely, this often isn't averted with CGI, as fast, complex movements are expensive to animate. Very often crosses over with MisplacedWildlife.

** PlayedForLaughs in "[[Recap/SouthParkS12E10Pandemic Pandemic]]", when the town is overrun by giant guinea pigs and other "guinea" animals such as rabbits and dogs. The animals in question are simple shots of pet animals shuffling about benignly in cute outfits, which have been digitally inserted into the animation.

* ''Film/{{Cujo}}'' tried to avert this by having the BigFriendlyDog's tail restrained to stop it wagging, which would have made it rather difficult to take it seriously as a savage, rabid monster. As symptoms of the disease, it's also covered in progressively more blood and pus throughout the movie, and its mouth becomes ringed with foam and spittle, partially obscuring the dog actors and making them look more threatening.