Cavies and Canines is a licensed guinea pig rescue under the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act, or PACFA. Earlier this week, the organization received a call from a distressed breeder and now the group is working to find foster and adoptive homes for more than 500 animals.
According to the organization, a breeder became unable to care for such a large population of guinea pigs and had, at one point, gone so far as to consider feeding them to birds of prey.
“This individual has been breeding guinea pigs for over 30 years when their husband unexpectedly passed away last week,” said Natalie Riggs, president and executive director of Cavies and Canines. “We hope that rescuing these animals will give the humans time to heal, as well.”
The animals were found in what the organization described as “deplorable” conditions. Many were kept in overcrowded plastic containers and lacked access to hay, food and water. Several of the rescued guinea pigs are pregnant or suffering from serious health issues, and others have mites or ringworm.
The removal of these animals represents the largest surrender the rescue has ever seen.
“It’s insane. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Riggs said. “We normally have about 50 guinea pigs in the rescue at any given time, and they’re all in foster homes in northern Colorado, [the] Denver metro area and a couple in Colorado Springs,” Riggs said.
On Sunday, Riggs and her team were able to coordinate the rescue of 60 guinea pigs, 50 of which were transported to Iowa overnight.
Currently, the biggest needs from the community include donations for medical bills and transportation expenses, volunteers to provide medical care and bathe the animals, and experienced fosters who can take in guinea pigs.
Anyone who wants to help can fill out the form at this link and a member of the rescue team will be in contact: https://forms.gle/zYQ3ENEA9gt2JNon9