Rats were small rodents found on Earth. They were considered a pest by the Humans.
According to folklore, in 1284 the Pied Piper rid the German town of Hamelin of its rats. (TVC: Challenge of the Piper, SJA: The Day of the Clown)
In the 14th century, rats carried the bubonic plague throughout Europe by their fleas. Terileptil prisoners who found themselves near London in the 1666 exploited the fact, and infected the rats to carry with an enhanced, especially lethal version of the plague, so that they could have the planet to themselves. (DW: The Visitation)
Susan was frightened by the rats she saw in the jail cell in which she and Barbara Wright were imprisoned. (DW: The Reign of Terror)
Rats were used in experiments as test subjects, since they could be bred quickly. In the late 19th century, Magnus Greel made some rats into giants in order to guard his underground laboratory, which he accessed via the London sewers. (DW: The Talons of Weng-Chiang) A lab rat was used by Owen Harper to demonstrate to the Torchwood 3 team the ultimately lethal effects of the "Sex Gas" on its host. (TW: Day One)
In the 1970s, Arthur Linwood, who had a morbid fear of rats, was killed when the Keller Machine turned his fear against him. His fear was so great that rat bites and scratches manifested on his face and neck. (DW: The Mind of Evil)
In the early 2000s, undercover Krillitane at Deffry Vale High School freeze-dried rats in order to eat them later. (DW: School Reunion)
In 2050, in the Gryffen mansion, the Space-Time Manipulator sent a couple of black rats through, frightening Darius Pike. While these type of rats were identical to normal rats, they were able to multiply every 10 seconds. (K9TV: Liberation)
On an unnamed planet, the Gyros destroyed rats which tried to eat the food the robots had harvested and stored. (TVC: The Gyros Injustice)
