The only thing I dislike about the article is the misinformation and the fact she keeps using the word 'rodents' in a derogatory manor, even 'feral rodents' at the end. What would people think of me if I expressed a view that she's a nauseating, spiteful excuse for a human being and I believe instead of using innocent animals for scientific research, as she picked up on, I believe we should use people like her. They are of no use to me, much like the guinea pig wasn't to her.
If you look past the emotive language, she actually raises some important points, that I think we would all agree on.
One: they die all the time.Why? Because they are fragile. They are faddy eaters and need a constant supply of hay, vegetables, and vitamin C or their complex digestive systems will stop working.
True
Two: they hate temperature change. Anything warmer than 80 degrees and they can boil to death; anything colder than five degrees and they will freeze.
True - Any prospective owners should make provisions for both extremes of temperature, which I'm sure most people who pop down to their local pet shop and impulse buy a few pigs and a cheap hutch to shove down the bottom of the garden, don't.
Three: their airways are sensitive. Strong aromas can irritate their lungs, causing some weird form of guinea pig asthma.
Again, true
Four: they get mange mites. Your fluffy pet will become bald and scabby overnight and become prone to seizures.
Another "true", not to mention fungal infections, both of which can be passed to the rest of the family and other animals, and lice.
Five: their teeth are another hazard – if they get too long, they can grow together and the guinea pig will starve to death.
Something that people who don't do their research, are oblivious to. Again, impulse buyers that get animals from pet stores that maybe aren't as healthy, or haven't been given the right diet can be totally unaware of
Six: guinea pigs get stressed. Loud noises and other animals scare them.
Again, true - so maybe it's not best to put your new bundles of joy in your child/ren's bedroom etc.
Snowy ended up in intensive care. Three days later clutching guinea pig drugs, a pipette and the bill, which had reached £372, I brought Snowy home, where she slept by the fire requiring fourhourly feeds. A week later she died in her sleep
Another valid point, as with the one about the mites. Far too many people see guinea pigs and other small rodents (oh no! that word again! well they ARE rodents!) as disposable pets. It's the old "why spend X amount on vets bills when you can go down to P@H and buy 10 for that amount?" argument, which sadly, some owners do have. I think this is the most important point for me; that guinea pigs can, and do, incur vets bills as high as that of a cat or dog.
Another problem with guinea pigs is that they need to be around other guinea pigs. I had to buy more.
Another valid point.
If this woman
really didn't like the guinea pigs, would she have forked out for the vets bills? Would she have done the 4 hourly feeds? (Anyone who has done this knows how greulling it is). Would she have got new pigs when previous ones died? She could easily have signed them over to a rescue or put them on free ads as free to a good home.
Personally, I think the article has a lot of valid points that, as I'm sure you'd agree, a lot of guinea pig owners should, and would benefit from, taking on board.
