Generally there is no need to withhold food or water from rats before surgery because:

Sometimes it is necessary to withhold food or water from animals before surgery so that regurgitation and other forms of respiratory aspiration of vomitus can be avoided. However, rats are not in this category. This is because rats cannot vomit or even regurgitate. Even under anesthesia, they have no risk for "respiratory aspiration of vomitus".

Explanation:

apart from being against desegregation, governor of georgia eugene talmadge opposed as well to the work progress administration, an ambitious program of the "new deal" created by president franklin d. roosevelt to overcome the great depression after world war i. talmadge disagreed with welfare spending, job training and organized labor. according to his ideas, he thought the government was spending too much money on this, and he wasn't willing to accept a wage higher than georgia's lower average wage. besides, talmadge strongly opposed to the "new deal" as he thought it had communist ideas.