Guinea pig badly treated

Hi i mentioned a few months ago about my sisters friends keep breeding thier guinea pigs for money but i cannot reply on that thread. Anyway they have bred them again. All 3 of thier females were pregnant until one gave birth prematurely and had 13! babies. They all died as according to the vet she had a rare triple birth. This one guinea pig had trouble with her first lot as one died and during birth one got stuck. On the 2nd attempt she didn't take and now this. 13 poor guinea pigs had to die because they are obsessed with doing this for money. This guinea pig was taken in by my sisters friends from pets at home to foster but they decided to keep her. I cannot believe after rescuing her from being put to sleep they keep treating her in this way. There is obviously a problem with her in the reproducing department and for her best interest and health i think she should be spayed considering she is meant to be a PET. I was wondering if this should be reported to the RSPCA or should i leave it?

They are apparently looking after an un-neutered male rabbit of friends who have gone on holiday and they still have an un-spayed female rabbit who they have been desperate to breed. My sisters rabbit was thier choice but my mum had him neutered as he was becoming a pain to get from the hutch and kept humping anything and everything. I am highly suspicious of what is going to happen next.

Technically these people are not doing anything wrong. I know its disgusting to treat animals in this way and I would never think of doing this, especially for a few pounds. Phone the RSPCA and just ask them for advice on this matter, you never know they might have a word with these people for you.

As for them having the male rabbit with female, have they asked permission to mate them. I would be absolutely annoyed if one of my boys was staying at another home while I was away and they mated them. What these people are doing immoral and should not deserve to have pets. Its a wonder that the guineas' have not died yet. I would be seriously worried. Maybe you could ask if you could take the guineas'.

I would still ask RSPCA for advice. GOOD LUCK.

I guess it depends on how well the animals are cared for as to whether the RSPCA would intervene or not. If they are in poor conditions then yes you should tell the RSPCA :?

Well i'm not sure entirely if this counts as mistreating but my sister said that when she went round in thier rabbits hutch (thier neutered male and the un-spayed female) she was told by them that they found maggots growing in it. They reckoned it was because of the heat and the sun is shining in thier garden virtually all day. I thought that's rubbish surely you'd do something to prevent that sort of thing happening. There's never been maggots growing in our rabbits hutches. As far as i know it has only happened one time but who knows. I just wish i could do something though, that poor guinea pig. I personally am not keen on them but she has been through so much since being with them it makes me think she was better off at pets at home waiting for someone else to adopt her. I thought rescuing pets was to look after them not use them as breed machines for a little extra cash. They probably don't even realise that they aren't getting much back for thier efforts anyway.

Many people breed animals for money, I don't agree with it, but unless they are being ill treated then the RSPCA will not get involved. If they are family why don't you voice your concerns?

I cannot believe how totally digusting these people are. My hutches are cleaned every week. Maggots still need time to hatch, so it must of been a long time since it was cleaned. The other thing is what happens when the maggots burro into the rabbits and guineas, it will certainly cause problems plus a lot of money to have them removed if they have not killed the poor animal first. Maybe you should point this out to them.

Maybe you could state to the RSPCA that you think that there is some cruetly going on. After now hearing this, I dont think they deserve to have pets. (Let alone baby-making machines). If my partner wanted to me to keep having babies and I kept losing them, I would end up walking out on him - the poor guineas and rabbits cannot do this. Someone has to do it for them.

No they are not family. I have had a major falling out with my sisters friend over other things as well as pets. My sister is just her friend unfortunately. I personally due to my sisters friend making things difficult cannot say to them myself what i think about thier treatment of pets.

I had a friend a few years ago who used to babysit for this woman. She had two rabbits in a really small hutch. She never cleaned it out and one of the rabbit was the large breed. She used to hit and kick the rabbits also letting the kids pull them about. She also went away for one month, rabbits with no food or water and no-one to watch them.

My friend went around to the house the day after this so-called woman went away, she climbed the back yard, boxed the rabbits up and brought them to my house. They were absolutely lovely rabbits and only I could pick them up. They did recover but when we went on holiday the big one bit my auntie and took a chunk out off her finger. They however were loved until they passed away.

Your sister will always be your sister, I would risk falling out with her for a while and do something to help these animals. Your sister will come around in the end and realise what her so-called friends are really like.

Guinea pig horrendous treatment

Hi a little news update on the situation. Well my sister friend's husband had an accident and had his leg in plaster so he could'nt breed thier guinea pigs which (for the guineas) was a good thing. However recently he has almost recovered and he did breed all 3 females again. I heard from my sister the other day that the new male guinea pig they took on died (he was from the adoption from pets at home and they did not know his age so he may have died of old age but also may have from the cold, we don't know really). I was a little annoyed if he had died from the cold that they were not properly insulating the hutch. However my fury erupted further when i was told by my sister that one of the 3 females had been taken to the vet and died a few days later after giving birth to 2 still borns. This was the daughter of the triple birth one that they kept from 2007. I had been told by my sister that her friends were breeding the guinea pigs for the last time and thought what a relief they can now be treated like pets which was meant to be WHY they adopted them. The female rabbit is un-spayed and attacks them when they go to feed her and one of thier male rabbits. I do not know why they have not had her spayed as it would solve the territory issue.

In all from last year about april when the mother of thier female rabbit died of myxomatosis, they have had 21 pets die. It hasn't even been a year how bad is that?

April 2008
1:Rabbit dies of myxomatosis (they said she had her injection but i am suspicious of them about this)
Summer time
2:Guinea pig has triple birth, all 13 babies die
August about
3:Guinea pig has litter of 5 but 2 die
October-November ish
4:Guinea pig dies after having mites and they shaved his fur off instead of taking him to the vets when it was winter 2008
February 2009
5:Guinea pig gives birth to 2 dead babies and then dies herself
6:Guinea pig dies (old age, or cold suspected)

Note: Even my sister was annoyed when she heard about the recent deaths and said that if she finds anything else has happened that she'll say the rabbits will have to come to us (supposedly they are going to give away the guinea pigs, oh how responsible of them taking them on after they were dumped, use them as breeding machines to get them a tenner per guinea pig and now THEY are dumping them)

How old was the sow they fostered from p@h when they took her in and also when she was first bred?

If she was over 10 months when they first bred her then she will never be able to be used for "successful" breeding anyway and each pregnancy carries an even greater risk than normal. It might be worth pointing out to them about the whole fusing of pubic bones thing...but then again from what you have said I don't suppose they care.

On the plus side I can't see how they can make money at £10 each - mine cost a fortune in bedding and food alone but if you are breeding I imagine you need to set money aside for emergency vet care.

Sounds like she shouldn't be keeping animals full stop.

I would contact the council and find out if breeders need a licence in your area. If they do report them. They might stop once they see how much it is going to cost as if they are selling them they will probably have to pay business rates aswell.

Can you contact the rescue place that they came from? At least they can look into it and not let them take anymore animals. They could also probably notify other rescues so they don't let them take animals either.

These people are a disgrace, if I were your sister I wouldn't want to be friends with them knowing what they've done.

Those poor animals

I would consult your local RSPCA and see what they think once you've given them the background. I am utterly disgusted at the whole story, I think you've been more than patient with these people, and now it's time to take some action. I was just gob smacked that people think that shaving a guinea pig with mites is going to cure the problem, they sound completely uneducated and ignorant and should not be allowed to put these animals through anymore stress or pain. I hope you manage to get the RSPCA to look in to the matter and perhaps get some results. Good luck x

If they are in a council house, there might be an anti-breeding policy.

Where did they intend to sell them?

Most people who try and make £10 on breeding, are often on welfare, housing benefit etc. They have to declare any additional income so I would report them.

I would steal them

also worth noting if they adopted them from p@h you are ment to sign an agreement not to sell loan i think it may even say breed (not sure on that one ) and they are ment to take them back not give them away

sandygirl said:

How old was the sow they fostered from p@h when they took her in and also when she was first bred?

If she was over 10 months when they first bred her then she will never be able to be used for "successful" breeding anyway and each pregnancy carries an even greater risk than normal. It might be worth pointing out to them about the whole fusing of pubic bones thing...but then again from what you have said I don't suppose they care.

On the plus side I can't see how they can make money at £10 each - mine cost a fortune in bedding and food alone but if you are breeding I imagine you need to set money aside for emergency vet care.

Sounds like she shouldn't be keeping animals full stop.

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I'm not sure how old they were when they got the females but i believe they were about 8 months - 1 year. They started breeding them soon after they got them. I know they won't make money but to them i think they think they do and they hope each of the 3 (well they did before the recent death) will have 5 each and when they sell them to the local family run pet shop for £10 each it will get them £150.

raine said:

If they are in a council house, there might be an anti-breeding policy.

Where did they intend to sell them?

Most people who try and make £10 on breeding, are often on welfare, housing benefit etc. They have to declare any additional income so I would report them.

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Apparently they rent from someone not the council and they gave them permission to have thier animals as long as they didn't go inside the house.
They sell them to the local family run shop. They both work (well not at the moment due to the husbands injury) not at the same time as they have a daughter to look after as well. I have no idea what (if any) benefits they get.

aussiebun said:

Can you contact the rescue place that they came from? At least they can look into it and not let them take anymore animals. They could also probably notify other rescues so they don't let them take animals either.

These people are a disgrace, if I were your sister I wouldn't want to be friends with them knowing what they've done.

Those poor animals

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The rescue is pets at home and i'm not sure about talking to them. I posted on here about my brothers rabbit (in another thread a while back) we got from them who had been taken by others THEY got her pregnant and then took her back. They did not put her in quarantine for 40 days like the manager said they are supposed to do when she was returned and she gave birth at about 4-5 months. We had already taken her to the vets when she was about 5-6 days into the pregnancy for her myxomatosis jab and the one baby was dead when we found out what had happened. We do not know if her having the injection so early in the pregnancy killed the baby or if it was because she was so young and didn't know what to do. I still get rabbit supplies from them because there isn't anywhere else near us to get it from but i don't think i'd ever get another rabbit from them (unless i felt it was being treated badly).

My sister is starting to see her friends for what they are concerning the animals because she really liked the guinea pig who died as it was the child of another guinea pig they had that she liked and she was a reminder of him. She was at work when she found out and punched the table when her friend finally told her. She said as they are giving the guinea pigs away that if she thinks the rabbits are being treated badly that she'll say they will have to come to us.

areia said:

also worth noting if they adopted them from p@h you are ment to sign an agreement not to sell loan i think it may even say breed (not sure on that one ) and they are ment to take them back not give them away

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They didn't say anything about that as they signed up to be fosterers to begin with and when no one wanted some of them they asked if they could have them. Have no idea what they had to do with contracts or anything like that.