24 Guinea pigs surrendered

On the 7th March 2008 ACS received a call from a member of the public asking if they could surrender their guinea pigs to ACS.  Little did they know that they would soon be receiving more than 20 guinea pigs, all in need of new homes.

Two weeks prior to the surrender ACS Founder 'Jessica' found an ad in the paper for a garage sale which included guinea pigs.  ACS check giveaway ads in the local papers as they have found that the guinea pigs advertised are often unwell, in inappropriate enclosures or in mixed sexes and that the owners do not know that they can surrender to the ACS.

Following intuition Jessica inquired if the guinea pigs were still available and was told that yes they were but if they didn't find homes they would be going to pet shops.  Jessica carefully posed the offer to take on the guinea pigs rather than them ending up in a pet shop where their new homes would not necessarily be well screened.

When told that the guinea pigs had been given free range of the family property and that there were babies as well as adults, Jessica was immediately concerned. Having been involved in similar surrenders by backyard breeders and misguided pet owners, she knew only too well that whilst owners believe they are giving their pets freedom, they often find the animals are suffering from unchecked illness and neglect.

Jessica finished the call, but held on to the hope that the family would ring back and surrender the guinea pigs to ACS. Two weeks later the call came and with a request to pick-up the animals immediately. 

As suspected, when the guinea pigs arrived at the shelter they were in very poor condition. All were quite underweight with boney sows hunching over babies uncomfortably as they fed them. Some were suffering from obvious fungal infections, while others had mange mite infestation.  One sow brought Jessica to tears, hunching over her babies in poor condition and with an extreme inflammation and infection in both front feet. Her feet were swollen to four times their normal size, bleeding and purple.

16 sows and 8 boars were surrendered to the rescue, every one of them is now receiving the best of care.  Once well Jessica and her team will be looking for homes for all 24.

See the guinea pigs for adoption from ACS

Reference: See the guinea pigs for adoption from ACS

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