Animal display with guinea pigs

Black piggies

Black piggies

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Hi there, I've heard that there is going to be a big display of live animals at my Dad's care home - ponies, donkeys, sheep, goats, chicken, ducks, rabbits and guinea pigs. I phoned the man who runs the enterprise and said guinea pigs have brittle backs and shouldn't be used like this, and he said they have "handling pods", so I said that sounds a very cruel thing for prey animals, who will be stressed by the enforced handling. Also it's in August, and so if it's an extreme heatwave day, that will be another welfare problem. He got angry with me and said I was arrogant, and I ended up saying I'd come to the event and take photos of what he was doing to the pigs, and report him to the RSPCA. I made a complaint to the care home who didn't really seem to get it. It's not going too well so far, I'm wondering whether anyone has any thoughts on anything more constructive I could be doing?
 
I'm not sure what the plan is? Is it to take a couple of piggies to a care home to meet the residents and have cuddles? If so I'm not sure about the brittle back comment and where this fits in?

If so then I really think it depends on the pigs. We had an American member of the forum who trained a couple of her guinea pigs to be therapy animals and they used to do hospital visits. If you have a laid back piggy that enjoys being handled then it could work really well for everyone (assuming all handling is supervised well). However, if the piggies are not chilled and happy to be handled then yes absolutely it would be unfair to them to be paraded and handed around like this.

I think I would need a lot more information on the event, the business and the individual animals involved before making my judgements
 
You could try complaining to your local MP and council as I think it’s the council who issues the licenses for these kind of events and setting up a partition but to be honest, I don’t think there’s much more you can do as it all sounds pretty normal standard to me. My husbands Grandad’s care home hold the same kind of events
 
There is a man that comes to my Mum’s care home every 4 months or so. He brings guinea pigs, tarantulas, Pygmy hedgehogs, rabbits, lizards and small snakes. The hedgehogs and guinea pigs and rabbits are for petting and are always brought out first. They have regular breaks etc and seem unfazed. Then, once back in their travel cages and safely put somewhere quiet and covered he gets the cold blooded animals out. They all look really well cared for and the residents really enjoy the experience

What are handling pods? I won’t really know, best to go along and see and judge what is happening and report if this turns out to be cruel and stressful for the animals
 
OK thanks, I hadn't thought of the council. I agree, not much can be done, but it'll be good to feel I'm trying everything.

Yes it's be residents handling the animals over 4 hours, broken backs is an issue, there's a young children play centre near where I live that has guinea pigs, and they are dropped by children. In a way the handling pods are good for that risk, but not for the stress.
 
It would be amazing if they seem unfazed too, that gives me some hope. I'm not sure what the handling pods are.
 
I think, in hindsight, it would have been better to open a dialogue of concerns with the company to explore what they are doing and suggest improvements. Sadly it seems to be human nature that if we feel "attacked" we simply don't engage with someone and your concerns and questions are likely to fall on deaf ears now.

I am of the opinion that children's centres and schools are definitely no place for guinea pigs. I would hope that a care home is much calmer and the adults better able to understand the importance of gentle handling (though maybe when I'm old enough to warrant a care home I'll be hoping for something more raucous!).

Again I just think, 4 hours sounds a lot but there's a lot of animals covered. The right piggies for a short amount of time, properly supervised and if these handling pods prevent falls then there may not be an issue. It's a lot to get right but if the owner has done their research and cares about the animals it's not impossible
 
Black piggies said:
It would be amazing if they seem unfazed too, that gives me some hope. I'm not sure what the handling pods are.
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They may be a weatherproof cuddle cup or tunnel? I think the guinea pigs used at my Mum’s home seemed to actually enjoy the strokes. It was very calm and the elderly people where so gentle with them, probably so much better than being handled by a lot of excited children
 
Yes I agree, I calmly opened a dialogue of my concerns with the man at the company. He also does those reindeer displays which the RSPCA is trying to stop, he quickly became defensive and shouty. I imagined the pod could be a plastic basic maybe..?

Certainly the event would be easier than at school. However some of the residents have dementia and agitation. I do hope that if the piggies are being sat in the sun in 30 degree heat after travelling some distance round the M25, then the RSPCA would help me.

Thanks for the tips, I'll update after the event 😊
 
Oh dear it sounds like he might get challenged a lot then so he may be constantly on the defensive ☹️
 
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