An odd competition is taking place at the Sacramento Dog Show this weekend, and it involves rats and hay bales.
It’s called Vermin Hunting or Barn Hunting.
It’s an age-old skill dating back centuries. When cats couldn’t get the job done, farmers would send trained dogs into the barn to kill rats and today that age-old skill evolved into a competition.
The strange competition is fairly new and started back in 2013.
The rules are simple: Live rats are put into small cages and those cages are hidden in hay bales, then a dog is released to find it.
This is a timed competition that requires teamwork from both the dog and the trainer. Just in case you are wondering the live rats are not harmed in the competition.
The barn hunt takes place all weekend at Cal Expo. The competition starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends around 3 p.m.