Becky, I'm really critter friendly, but I make a huge exception for rats - they carry so many diseases! Nasty, nasty... My niece had a pet rat that was cute, but he was vaccinated and rather entertaining. She called him Darling (!) and was devastated when Darling died...
I've never seen an electro trap - sounds like a humane solution to a problem that none of us need! Is a roof rat different from an ordinary rat?