Facebook Guinea Pig Posts Are Getting Me Down

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Carrotyd

Carrotyd

Junior Guinea Pig
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Apologies for this post. I just have to vent.

I absolutely detest any Facebook group or website that sells pets, but - since becoming a cavy slave - I get sent so many links to them by well meaning friends and family members when they spot posts on them about guinea pigs, who think I might be interested because I have Harry and Lloyd and might "one day" want some more.

I would like more pigs one day, but we've only had Harry and Lloyd two months, and I'm still learning new stuff about them all the time, so don't think it would be fair on them to get more right now as they're still settling in and deserve our full attention.

But the posts are all so depressing, and I feel so sorry for the little pigs in them, and it gets me down that I can't help them, and that some of them have ended up with owners that clearly haven't taken the time to find out exactly how to care for them properly. The cages are tiny, the pigs are cramped and the sellers' responses to questions are so inept it makes me want to cry.

Apologies again for the Sunday night rant, but it's been prompted by my sister-in-law sharing a post on Facebook from a local "Pets 4 Sale" page with me about two boars who are in a tiny cage, and need a new home because the kids lost interest less than 18 months after getting them. Wish there was so way I could help them, but I can't. Boo!
 
It is so sad to see such posts. Can you ask people not to send you the links? I never look on free adverts as it is just too upsetting and I feel helpless.
 
Things like that are part of the reason I no longer have a Facebook account. It's so sad.
 
piggyfan said:
It is soad to see such posts. Can you ask people not to send you the links? I never look on free adverts as it is just too upsetting and I feel helpless.
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I have asked, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I think it's because I'm so crazy about my two, people do it not to be mean, but as a "oh, you said wouldn't get any more, but..."

Thanks for understanding, Davey-Cavy and Piggyfan. x
 
Facebook links and adverts is how I ended up with Mavis and Dory. You wish you could give them all a home!
 
I used to look on gumtrea etc and that made me feel down too. I just try to keep away and focus on my pigs. It's is so sad though.
 
Its depressing, I'm on FB and I had to leave groups because I didn't like the breeding and stuff going on and people selling pigs before they are born etc. without knowing if they would survive and the mummy pigs that die for it. No it was just dreadful. :( It's awful.
I also want all the piggies but I know I can't have them, especially knowing that they'll probably need so much work, and I just couldn't take that on, it's awful :( I just try and tell them to take them to a rescue.
 
These adverts, petstores and breeders all in it for the £££ make my blood boil. I'm very fortunate my friends & family share the same opinion as me. Growing up on top of fields, rivers & parks has made us all respect wildlife and our pets.

It could be the case these individuals sending you these adverts lack the knowledge and/or understanding to know what goes on and believe they are doing the right thing, however I would be very firm with anybody sending me such advertisements!
 
Yeah, that's exactly it. I want to help them all, but - especially as @TheFurryGodmother rightly points out - a lot of these little piggies will need a lot of help, and that's an expense I don't think I can shoulder. Also, I only have so much space at home.
 
It is very upsetting that's why I decided to untag my self from those sort of groups on social network. Like you say some answers people are given are just so in accurate. I'm sure you can delete links without having to actually read them. I may be wrong! I never look on gum tree or free adds anywhere. It breaks my heart. I have a 2yr old who I say is the reason for getting my rescue girls, but really he was an excuse otherwise my partner wouldn't let me get any! I researched so much and knew what I was doing. He helps me feed them and cuddle and kisses them. :D
 
Exactly, please try not to feel so bad, just maybe say to the owners 'please consider taking them to a rescue' or something, then you know you've done what you can to help. If it's anymore consolation, I have a special needs piggy and he has cost me a heck of a lot, so it really is not cheap. :(
 
I gently suggested to a lady on a Facebook group some weeks ago that if she "urgently" needs to move on her piggies she should contact her local rescue.

The response was along the lines of, "I'd like to make some of the money back I spent on them."

I was furious. If you want a return on investment, that doesn't involve love and companionship, buy some shares instead!
 
Carrotyd said:
I gently suggested to a lady on a Facebook group some weeks ago that if she "urgently" needs to move on her piggies she should contact her local rescue.

The response was along the lines of, "I'd like to make some of the money back I spent on them."

I was furious. If you want a return on investment, that doesn't involve love and companionship, buy some shares instead!
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Oh what an awful attitude!
 
Since I got my piggies, and even more so since I started volunteering at my local rescue, I can't understand how anyone can get to a stage where they aren't interested in giving their piggies the best life they can. I hear the stories of some of the residents and just can't comprehend why people think piggies don't matter and are just there for short-term amusement. In fact, the more I go there, the more I hate people!
 
I know how you feel! Every time I went on kijiji to buy something, the guinea pigs for sale column would pop up in my sidebar :( That's how I ended up with Gigantica! I had to draw the line somewhere and four is the line. I got Oreo and Spike from a woman whose children had lost interest and she didn't want to watch them die. When I got them about 3 or 4 months ago the lady believed them to be between 5-6 years old so they are old piggies! I got them out of their sawdust filled, little cage and popped them on some soft fleece. Their drippy gross eyes went away very quickly and they also started receiving veggies which they had never had before! Gigantica was found on the front step of an apartment building in a box that was labelled "FREE" in the winter in -15 degrees Celsius weather and a nice lady took her in. She ended up having some babies and the lady needed to find a home for her. The lady was awesome for taking her in but she was in a 1.5 foot x 1.5 foot cage with unlimited food of all sorts! She was eating hamster grain treats! She was a BIG pig! I don't look at the ads anymore. As much as I'd like to take in everyones cast-off animals, it's just not plausible :(
 
piggyfan said:
Oh what an awful attitude!
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I have a poor attitude when it comes to spca's these days. I know that they save lives and all but I would much rather support smaller rescues. I've seen several ads now on a website that allows the selling of pets which the spca was firmly against and one of the organizations that was working to ban the sale of free pets on the site. However, I've found several ads for animals that were adopted out by the SPCA that are now being SOLD on this site and the owners clearly state that that is where they came from! And the SPCA is allowing this! Many of the reasons that the people were giving for not being able to keep the animal was that good old "We didn't realize how much work a puppy was" or "We want him to go to a home where they can spend more time with him/her". First off, the spca has adoption people that do a check with the families that they are adopting an animal to that makes sure they are a suitable home so what's falling through the cracks here? Second, if you adopted a puppy from anywhere and you realized "I just don't have time for it"- shame the *%^& on you. I work an 8 hour day out of the home, and I still have time to walk my dog every single day- twice a day. We've done evening training classes even. When she was a puppy I came home on my lunch hour to let her out and to feed and play with her and if I couldn't be there, I arranged for someone else to be there. THIRD, they ALL say, we are only asking for money for him/her because we want to get our money back for what we paid as an adoption fee. I think that you should be paying a fee yourself to return that animal to the SPCA because you are a pathetic animal owner. Sure, there are extenuating circumstances that are legitimate but I happen to know that when you sign the contract of adoption, it states that the animal must be returned to the spca if it must be surrendered. Now, I just see them as hypocrites. I even sent them an email to ask why they were allowing the animals that they adopted out to be sold on this website and they never sent a reply. There are known cases when animals have been sold or given way on this site and have turned up later in dog fighting rings or abused and abandoned somewhere. ARGH! But anyways, that's my rant for the day.
 
That makes me sad too. Animals are so helpless in all this... they are at the mercy of the people who have them. I can't imagine just deciding one day that I was 'done' with my pigs and wanted to offload them somewhere. I bought them for life. I just can't get the mentality of not committing to an animal for life.
 
Coco&Luna said:
ugh, this is so depressing man. I hate people. I'm so glad i'm on this forum sometimes, at least I know there are some people who'll always fight for the ones that can't fight for themselves. :beer:
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I caved. I went back to the Facebook post this thread prompted. Then I searched for the ladies profile elsewhere and saw she was offering up these poor piggies everywhere in loads of pet groups, with increasingly desperate posts.

Then when someone asked if she could keep them outside at the moment, she said they'd be fine. In temperatures like this?!

That was the final straw. I've posted everywhere I've seen her post saying I'll take them. No response so far...
 
Carrotyd said:
I caved. I went back to the Facebook post this thread prompted. Then I searched for the ladies profile elsewhere and saw she was offering up these poor piggies everywhere in loads of pet groups, with increasingly desperate posts.

Then when someone asked if she could keep them outside at the moment, she said they'd be fine. In temperatures like this?!

That was the final straw. I've posted everywhere I've seen her post saying I'll take them. No response so far...
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Use the rescue locator on the forum - it will be worth contacting your nearest to see if they can take on the piggies. Given that the pigs are being kept out in sub-zero temperatures it becomes a danger to their lives. If a rescue is willing to offer space you could always collect the pigs for them.
 
I left 2 Facebook groups they started a massive hate crime against this poor lad. He put his pig on snow and took a quick snap of her, started calling him names, being overdramatic. One person even took the photos and posted around calling it cruelty.
 
Jess said:
I left 2 Facebook groups they started a massive hate crime against this poor lad. He put his pig on snow and took a quick snap of her, started calling him names, being overdramatic. One person even took the photos and posted around calling it cruelty.
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I have seen this one - unfortunately it was not a good idea to put a guinea pig in the snow and could have had serious consequences... But, this sort of conflict over pets is why I choose piggy groups very carefully and don't really join any, bar a couple.
 
That's a bloody shame and its rediculous that we are worrying so much about the animals that we end up going to daft and back trying to grab them from completely inept people because we worry so much about them. People who shouldn't be allowed them in the first place.
It's a really hard thing to do, you end up warping your own morals for these people. You know what your doing is wrong and that your encouraging these people, but at the time all you can think about is saving the little one onfront of you.
That was so lovely oh you, i hope you get them so much, because by the looks of things she'll be getting rid of them anyway she can.
Good luck!
x
 
Piggly said:
Use the rescue locator on the forum - it will be worth contacting your nearest to see if they can take on the piggies. Given that the pigs are being kept out in sub-zero temperatures it becomes a danger to their lives. If a rescue is willing to offer space you could always collect the pigs for them.
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The lady we got Harry and Lloyd off is a foster carer, so I've shot her and email on the off chance the Facebook poster does get back to me (although it's looking increasingly unlikely). She's got lots of experience with tricky pigs and has offered them space and her local vet's support if they're poorly.

We shall see. If I hear anything back, I'll let you know.
 
Piggly said:
I have seen this one - unfortunately it was not a good idea to put a guinea pig in the snow and could have had serious consequences... But, this sort of conflict over pets is why I choose piggy groups very carefully and don't really join any, bar a couple.
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True. But it was horrible to witness and read...
 
I've had a response, but it's kind of made me a bit sweary, but I'll try and keep this post clean as I know The Guinea Pig Forum is a family forum. ;)

I told her I'd take them, and she's responded to say she's had another expression of interest from elsewhere... so the price has just gone up from 15 quid to 50. And she "needs them gone" by Friday.

She also won't send me any close-up photos of the wee chaps. My brother has warned me it could be a scam.

Any thoughts?
 
Carrotyd said:
I've had a response, but it's kind of made me a bit sweary, but I'll try and keep this post clean as I know The Guinea Pig Forum is a family forum. ;)

I told her I'd take them, and she's responded to say she's had another expression of interest from elsewhere... so the price has just gone up from 15 quid to 50. And she "needs them gone" by Friday.

She also won't send me any close-up photos of the wee chaps. My brother has warned me it could be a scam.

Any thoughts?
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I cannot understand why she would not show pictures? That is very odd. How crazy to charge fifty pounds! She really sounds horrible. If she really needed them gone they why charge more? It does not add up.
 
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