Bullied by breeders

Claire W

Claire W

Forum Donator 2025/26
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
38,113
Reaction score
31,230
Points
2,915
Location
Lancashire (Originally from Nottingham)
So, I am on a Facebook group for guinea pig owners. A new owner (brought her piggies a few days ago) has showed some concern about the breeder she purchased her two girls from. It turns out they were in breeder box’s that were really dirty. A breeder piped up saying that breeder boxes are perfectly normal blah blah blah. Owner of the New Guinea pigs stated that in the breeder hutch were just her two girls and a baby boy! She’s been advised that they’re 8 weeks old and the mum was already back in with the dad! :( Most members who have commented have advised she contacts the rspca if she’s concerned about the living conditions after all, if the breeder is good, she won’t have anything to hide.
Anyway, I have informed this member that it is likely that her two new babies could be pregnant as they have had contact with the baby boy for the last 8 weeks and have pointed her to the guides in this forum. Whether she will join I don’t know.
But now I am having a couple of breeders have a go at me saying that I don’t know what I’m talking about and that it’s impossible for these two girls to be pregnant! If you’re going to breed, at least know your facts right!
The breeder that this unsuspecting girl has brought her babies from is obviously a back yard breeder in it for the money and now this new owner may well end up more than two guinea pigs and she doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing as she’s new to guinea pigs :(

I feel so upset and angry right now!
 
If it’s not parents of bored children selling piggies on eBay and gumtree like second hand toys, it’s these awful breeders trying to make a quick buck with no consideration or care for the piggies or the unsuspecting buyers!

I don’t have a Facebook account but I can well imagine. The more you see and hear about these types it just makes me more angry and ashamed to be human x
 
alpacasqueak said:
I'm not surprised you're upset and angry, I'd be exactly the same. What horrible breeders.
And poor little babies :(
Hope she joins and gets help for the little ones x
Click to expand...
How is your boy Pedro today, hope he’s doing good!
 
Bill & Ted said:
If it’s not parents of bored children selling piggies on eBay and gumtree like second hand toys, it’s these awful breeders trying to make a quick buck with no consideration or care for the piggies or the unsuspecting buyers!

I don’t have a Facebook account but I can well imagine. The more you see and hear about these types it just makes me more angry and ashamed to be human x
Click to expand...
I dont see how much money is made from breeding and selling guinea pigs, not after all the hay that they need, or are these people not even doing that
 
Skypipdot said:
I dont see how much money is made from breeding and selling guinea pigs, not after all the hay that they need, or are these people not even doing that
Click to expand...

According to the member that I am referring too, the guinea pigs had a tiny amount of hay in a hay rack and was bedded on straw which is cheaper than hay. She says that the bottom of the straw was at least an inch thick in soggy newspaper and poo and it just looked like the breeder was just chucking more straw on top of the soiled bedding rather than giving them a proper clean out :( Going by her description, this was a back yard breeder.
 
Claire W said:
According to the member that I am referring too, the guinea pigs had a tiny amount of hay in a hay rack and was bedded on straw which is cheaper than hay. She says that the bottom of the straw was at least an inch thick in soggy newspaper and poo and it just looked like the breeder was just chucking more straw on top of the soiled bedding rather than giving them a proper clean out :( Going by her description, this was a back yard breeder.
Click to expand...
Horrible! Makes me sick, and theres me worried because I'm on a one night stop out at work and cant muck the pigs out
 
Skypipdot said:
Horrible! Makes me sick, and theres me worried because I'm on a one night stop out at work and cant muck the pigs out
Click to expand...

I know :( don’t get me wrong, I’m not against all breeders as let’s face it, if it wasn’t for them, none of us would have pets, I even know a few on Facebook through this forum who went down the breeding and showing route. I don’t agree with that but they’re all well looked after which I guess is the main thing.

This poor new owner was just asking if it was normal as she’d done all her research before getting piggies so was a bit shocked seeing so many piggies in one cage (breeder block) living on straw. I was so annoyed that these two breeders started arguing with me saying that her guinea pigs won’t be pregnant after spending 8 weeks with a boar. Those breeders are dangerous and clearly don’t know what they’re doing :(
 
Breeders can be very mean and defensive, when we picked up Blod (not knowing she was reject breeder stock) the woman was initially nice, until we started asking questions, like did she know Blod had ringworm and was it normal for Blod to go all floppy and fall over when she was scared, and maybe she should get a vet to look at her other piggies... then there were angry hate mail texts every couple of hours and we just had to block her number... I kind of wanted to report her or even call the police she was that crazy, and the vet offered to send her all Blod's vet bills, but I just decided to leave things be and give Blod a new name and pay her vet bills and stay anonymous because I really wouldnt want the crazy breeder knowing where we lived... sometimes I think you just need to accept, for your own sanity, that there are bad people in the world unfortunately :( but there are good people too! But nobody can save all the sad animals its just too big a job and the regulations and penalties for animal cruelty just arent enough of a deterrent for people determined to make a profit. I give lectures about illegal wildlife trade and its really horrible and hardly anyone is ever prosectuted or they get a tiny fine but the best we can do really is educate the people who care to know better!
 
Claire W said:
I know :( don’t get me wrong, I’m not against all breeders as let’s face it, if it wasn’t for them, none of us would have pets, I even know a few on Facebook through this forum who went down the breeding and showing route. I don’t agree with that but they’re all well looked after which I guess is the main thing.

This poor new owner was just asking if it was normal as she’d done all her research before getting piggies so was a bit shocked seeing so many piggies
Click to expand...
Skypipdot said:
Horrible! Makes me sick, and theres me worried because I'm on a one night stop out at work and cant muck the pigs out
Click to expand...
Wife is mucking them out, shes just not as thourough. But I'm o.t.t 😉 so maybe shes just normal
 
People are so nasty and I’m sorry you went through all that abuse @PigglePuggle :(
I received some right nasty messages in my fb messenger from people I don’t even know just by saying that two 8 week old guinea pigs could be pregnant after spending 8 weeks with a baby boar as I’m obviously not a breeder, I don’t know what I’m talking about! I dread to think how many pregnant babies have been sold on to unsuspecting owners by these people :(
And I never said that breeder blocks were bad, just that they need cleaning out regular ideally not with straw. Goodness, I only have two and they’re spot cleaned having wet bedding removed and replaced with fresh daily and cleaned out fully at least once a week!
 
Many years ago I came across a post on a breeders forum along the lines of 'there is a lady in Northampton who keeps disabled guinea pigs alive'. There were then many replies saying things such as:

This woman needs prosecuting
Someone needs to go round to seize these guinea pigs and get them all put to sleep
Some of the guinea pigs she has are lethals and it is a welfare issue that she is keeping those alive

It was quite clear that it was me they were referring to. None of them knew me, none of them had ever seen the piggies at TEAS, but these keyboard warriors thought it fine to condemn me. My immediate reaction was to join their forum and bang out a response to them, but then I thought, why waste my time. I have a very strict ethos here at TEAS - 'to extend good quality life, but never to extend suffering'. I work closely with a veterinary surgeon and all our piggies lead a life worth living.

Don't let these stupid people get to you. Sadly you can't educate people who are so narrow minded. Leave that group and don't give them another thought!
 
That’s awful @furryfriends (TEAS) :( Maybe these people should come and look at the amazing work that you do and see how happy your piggies are before making judgement. I dread to think what they must do with poorly piggies or those who are not ‘up to standard’
:( I just hope that the owner hasn’t got two pregnant piggies on her hands as she hasn’t got a clue xx
 
If think we all know the answer to that one, and it probably won’t be a trip to the vets to be pts.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Many years ago I came across a post on a breeders forum along the lines of 'there is a lady in Northampton who keeps disabled guinea pigs alive'. There were then many replies saying things such as:

This woman needs prosecuting
Someone needs to go round to seize these guinea pigs and get them all put to sleep
Some of the guinea pigs she has are lethals and it is a welfare issue that she is keeping those alive

It was quite clear that it was me they were referring to. None of them knew me, none of them had ever seen the piggies at TEAS, but these keyboard warriors thought it fine to condemn me. My immediate reaction was to join their forum and bang out a response to them, but then I thought, why waste my time. I have a very strict ethos here at TEAS - 'to extend good quality life, but never to extend suffering'. I work closely with a veterinary surgeon and all our piggies lead a life worth living.

Don't let these stupid people get to you. Sadly you can't educate people who are so narrow minded. Leave that group and don't give them another thought!
Click to expand...
That's truly awful. I wonder if they would say the same about disabled people.   :(:(
 
Claire W said:
I know and I @PigglePuggle is proof of some of that :(
Click to expand...
Yes Blodwen was dumped in the free ads advertised as "lone female pet in urgent need of rehoming". Despite having been taken away from a herd of 12 a few hours earlier because she needed at least £350 of vet care and isnt show or breeding standard. She's lovely and really funny looking, really not a pure bred peruvian lilac at all which is what the breeder was after... luckily for her and for us! She's got daft white crested eyebrows that make her look like a lopsided pink eyed owl! And we love her, and her dodgy lopsided teeth and ringworm seem to be fixed ok, but she still might be partially sighted and a bit special needs. Which is fine with us as long as she is happy. Blodwen discovered sprouts for dinner tonight which was really exciting :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
Yes Blodwen was dumped in the free ads advertised as "lone female pet in urgent need of rehoming". Despite having been taken away from a herd of 12 a few hours earlier because she needed at least £350 of vet care and isnt show or breeding standard. She's lovely and really funny looking, really not a pure bred peruvian lilac at all which is what the breeder was after... luckily for her and for us! She's got daft white crested eyebrows that make her look like a lopsided pink eyed owl! And we love her, and her dodgy lopsided teeth and ringworm seem to be fixed ok, but she still might be partially sighted and a bit special needs. Which is fine with us as long as she is happy. Blodwen discovered sprouts for dinner tonight which was really exciting :)
Click to expand...

I can’t believe that they took her from her herd and essentially dumped her :( just think what a life she could have had if she had ended up in the wrong hands. It’s a shame you can’t report the breeder. I can’t go in to the details on here and it doesn’t involve rescuing a piggy but I unknowingly helped out a breeder last week and guess what? Now she’s got what she wanted out of me. I haven’t heard from her since
 
I have left all FB groups where breeders are allowed free rein. You can’t change their mentality. And it’s not worth the abuse you get to speak up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top