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Rescues making things hard

  • Thread starter Thread starter *Cavy Lover*
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*Cavy Lover*

A couple of years ago I went to my local rescue looking for either a pair of piggies or a large house bunny, after losing our old guinea girls. I was planning on keeping them indoors well they treated me like a murder. They said that I could not have an indoor cage for the guineas and an outdoor run I had to have an outdoor hutch as well. Then they found out I didn’t have a lawn and that was an instant no no. I explained to them how I had kept guineas since 8 (nearly 30 now) I have a large run with trays I grow grass in for them, so they get the patio to wear down nails and lots of fresh grass, hidy huts and toys, but they didn’t want to no. So that pushed me to go and get a pair of pet store boys. I understand they have to be careful but why are they making it so hard for people to adopt?
 
they are only looking out for the best interests of the animals,(not saying i agree with all of it) but at least they wont be going to bad homes,and truthfully most will try to meet all requirements of the rescue as they really love the idea of rescue,when they make effort to comply with standards thats when you know its a great home,noone really forced you to get petshop piggies that was a choice you made,there are plenty of rescues everywhere so there are a few options,I'm sorry your first rescue experience wasnt good,i had extremely long waits and bad communication with mine and was told to build C&C cages and everything and i did the whole lot just to get my boys it took me 2-3 months to wait and it was well worth it x
 
i have to agrre with cavy lover.

my piggies have loads of room to run about, have loads of love, and fresh veg daily, plus their food, but because i wanted to foster, i needed to change the bedding i used, plus the food. we are all in this for the piggies/animals, and i can understand why rescues are the way they are, but surely, there should be give and take. If it wasn't for people like us, the rescues would heaving and lots of piggies pts (heaven forbid) I'm not saying put them in 1ft cage with no sunlight, but at least try and be a bit flexible.

Cannot see why the rescue wouldn't allow her to have pigges, especially when they would have been inside, with outside access and grass.

I couldn't afford to have my piggies, if i'd had to buy c & c setups for all of them, i have 16, but none of them go with out, and at least i know they are here, i know they are being loved (13 of mine came from RSPCA)

No insult aimed at anyone, but i think cavy lover will know get shot down for buying piggies from a petshop.

(Just a quick note. nearly all of my hamsters have come from P@H adoption section)
 
I am so grateful to rescues for all of the hard work they do, however it can be hard when rescues have vastly different policies. I once tried to adopt a young sow to bond her into my existing group of three and I was told it was 'highly unlikely' I'd be able to do this..regardless of the fact I'm 21 and have had piggies my whole life. I also felt that I was treated as though I was stupid. I also reserved a sow at another rescue and had been waiting for several weeks when I had a phonecall one Tuesday. The lady there wanted me to pick her up the following day, and when I told her I couldn't make it up till the weekend, she said I'd have to pay for 'boarding coasts' for the pig. It was only a few days, and I was over 30 miles away and was at work all week! These are fortunately rare but miserable experiences, I do think we all have to be willing to compromise. What is good for one pig isn't the same in everyone's opinions, luckily most of the people I've talked to on here have been lovely.
 
*Cavy Lover* said:
A couple of years ago I went to my local rescue looking for either a pair of piggies or a large house bunny, after losing our old guinea girls. I was planning on keeping them indoors well they treated me like a murder. They said that I could not have an indoor cage for the guineas and an outdoor run I had to have an outdoor hutch as well. Then they found out I didn’t have a lawn and that was an instant no no. I explained to them how I had kept guineas since 8 (nearly 30 now) I have a large run with trays I grow grass in for them, so they get the patio to wear down nails and lots of fresh grass, hidy huts and toys, but they didn’t want to no. So that pushed me to go and get a pair of pet store boys. I understand they have to be careful but why are they making it so hard for people to adopt?
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A few places I have looked have a policy that you have to have them indoors, not housed outdoors..
 
Cavy Lover, I think you may be being a bit harsh basing your opinion of rescues in general, on one experience two years ago. Many of us do really good work and are committed to finding the best possible home for guineas. With any organisation, in any walk of life there are good and bad. If you are not happy with one, look at others, but please don't tar us all with the same brush, it can harm reputations.
Nicky, no one will shoot anyone down here. Many forum members started with their first guinea pig/s from a pet shop, and this created an interest which led to research and finding out about rescues and becoming involved in this. I include myself in this. I got my first two piggies Nutmeg and Doughball from a petshop, three years ago. I now have 8 piggies of my own and have successfully rehomed almost 50 rescue piggies.
 
I have rehomed, a rabbit, a dog and now 3 piggies. Our piggies love came from nearly buying from p@h but we stopped and thought about our previous pets which we have rehomed.

We have always had great experiences with sanctuarys and rspca so I can't complain but I would do anything in my power to do what is best for the animals. Not saying you aren't cavy lover, you clearly love your piggies hun and I hope next time you look to rehome you have another rescue which can be a little more flexible x
 
I also had problems with the first two rescues I approached. This was 3 years ago, I don't know whether they have changed since, because I found one I got on with and didn't go back to the others.
It was when I was looking for a new friend for my recently-bereaved pig, Sammy. The first two I tried were adamant that they did not re-home boars to live with other boars, end of. Of course I explained that I would start them off in separate cages, introduce them only slowly, not force it, keep them separate permanently if necessary....they weren't interested.
I was in despair and seriously considered a pet shop. Luckily we found a rescue who were prepared to listen to me and accept that I knew what I was doing (Good old RSPCA Medway West!) We got Roo, he and Sam became good friends, and the rest is history.
 
nutmeg said:
Cavy Lover, I think you may be being a bit harsh basing your opinion of rescues in general, on one experience two years ago. Many of us do really good work and are committed to finding the best possible home for guineas. With any organisation, in any walk of life there are good and bad. If you are not happy with one, look at others, but please don't tar us all with the same brush, it can harm reputations.
Nicky, no one will shoot anyone down here. Many forum members started with their first guinea pig/s from a pet shop, and this created an interest which led to research and finding out about rescues and becoming involved in this. I include myself in this. I got my first two piggies Nutmeg and Doughball from a petshop, three years ago. I now have 8 piggies of my own and have successfully rehomed almost 50 rescue piggies.
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i'm not saying all rescues are the same, and i totally agree that you do a fab job. Its nice to be able to air problems/concerns and it be dealt with in an adult manor :)
 
I have recently had a very good experience with a rescue. I would just like to point out that everyone is entitled to their "opinion" on how a piggy/ies should be kept, as the owner of piggies you would like to think when they are leaving rescue they are going to a similar standard of care in "your opinion". Maybe it would be worthwhile the rescues using the forum to get together and right a set of standard conditions on care and publish it.
 
all it is is perseverance,once you get through all the initial issues and questions and homechecks and all the rest of it its great you just have to find a good rescue and there are plenty out there,it took me ages for my first two rescues but then i got my third and that didnt involve anything as hard as the first time round and now I'm on to my fourth and fifth and I'm on good friendly terms with the rescue,just find one that works for you and in time its not so bad,there are a few rescues and fosterers on here and all of there requirements are great,they make sure the piggy is going to a great home but i have never once seen any of them treat anyone badly x
 
We get criticised for not rehoming a young sow to live with an adult sow. The problem as we see it is that all piggies are different and we cannot know what the pig the adopter already has it like, or how a bond will go. It is much safer to rehome a female to a neutered male as I have never known this pairing to fail (I know it will have somewhere, but never in my experience).

We have some females in that came in as a big group. We randomly separated them and got a trio that would all get on and a trio where all 3 had to be separated due to fighting. Sows do not always get on.

As for other issues, well, rescues set conditions which they feel are essential for the pigs to have a happy and healthy life. People call us with 3ft cages and hutches declaring that they have kept guinea pigs in that size for 20 years, but that doesn't mean we have to accept it as being ok for our guinea pigs. If a rescue has MINIMUM standards, you should be looking to exceed those standards rather than just scrape them or be just under them. I don't know why people think it's ok to put pigs in a small box or to not give them a freedom to roam out in a run.

Many of our pigs come from having a bad life, so we see it as our job to make sure they have the best life after they leave us.

We are not trying to keep them, we want to rehome them, believe me!
 
I would not like to apply a 'blanket' guineas should be kept indoors, or guineas should be kept outdoors. I think many rescues look at the individual piggies. If, for instance a piggy is 3 years old and has always been kept indoors, I would wish to continue. If a piggy had always been outdoors, I would agree to that also, provided appropriate provision was made for winter months indoors. I think my opinion is to apply common sense, and treat each adoption individually. There is however, universally recognised good practice which I would like to think all rescues adhere to. Maybe the rescues that will only house to indoor accommodation have seen too many sad cases of neglect in outdoor situations, and as a result have their own policy on this. This does not mean that they have moved away from good practice, just added their own procedures as what they see is a further safeguarding method. If this particular system does not suit a potential adopters circumstances, then they are free to look at other accepted accommodation.
As Lucy Woo says, our aim is to find safe, caring forever homes for piggies who may have had a poor start in life, and we really will work with people to make rescuing piggies possible for them wherever possible.
 
I did try other rescues, sadly there are not many in Cornwall and the ones I spoke to had the same reasons I didn’t have a lawn, or didn’t have any piggies (mostly cat and dog rescues here) I do agree they have the animals best interests at heart, and if you really want an animal you should be prepared to get everything ready they ask for. But I was not going to try and lay a lawn (the main reason they wouldn’t let me adopt) When they would have had access to grass. I have other rescue animals including two rescue dogs and two from breeders. As with breeders, pet shops and rescues there is good and bad in each. The two dogs I got from a breeder cared more about how is was going to keep them and what I was going to feed than the rescue and gave me more after care. Sadly some rescues are so pushed for homes when one comes along they are just glad to have somewhere to send the animal, while others seem to fussy. Sadly there isn’t a happy medium, I think there should be a bit of give and take from both sides.

I no some people feel very strongly about pet shops, but I am not prepared to be bashed for it, I have rescued piggies my self and no the harm these large shops do. It will be a long time if ever before pet shops stop selling animals. Personally I prefer small pet shops who by their animals from private reputable breeders then these mass producers like the Essex breeders.
 
I had to laugh, just the thought of you laying a lawn. Two of my own boys, Rolfy and Harris came a girl who used to post on the forum. Their mum was found wandering the streets pregnant. She lived in a flat, with a great indoor set up and no garden at all, yet her pets never suffered, she used to take them to her mums where there was a run for them. So, rather than a blanket rule, it's good to look at each case individually, so we don't lose out on potentially good homes. xx
 
*Cavy Lover* said:
Personally I prefer small pet shops who by their animals from private reputable breeders then these mass producers like the Essex breeders.
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I have to take issue with that. Unless you have seen the premises yourself, being a small pet shop does not equal using reputable breeders. Mainly because reputable breeders would not let stock go to pet shops. There is as much chance that the animals are in a state and living in filth as with the larger breeders.
 
LucyWoo said:
I have to take issue with that. Unless you have seen the premises yourself, being a small pet shop does not equal using reputable breeders. Mainly because reputable breeders would not let stock go to pet shops. There is as much chance that the animals are in a state and living in filth as with the larger breeders.
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I did not say all small pet shops use reputable breeders, I said I prefer small pet shops that use reputable breeders. And most will check out the breeders as they don’t want sick, scared or possibly pregnant stock, they want healthy well adjusted pets. I have seen first hand the animals that come from the mass producers they are petrified as never been handled and have travelled a long way, they are often ill are have mites etc,
 
Yes but how many people actually ask where the pet shop piggies come from? I pulled an article out of the newspaper today, a rodent mill is wanting to renew its license - 10,000 breeding cages, 12 staff! The mind boggles. They supply not only large chains but also smaller 'local' pet shops.

I know all of the pet shops near me that sell livestock and I've spoken to all of them at some point, in a friendly manner, and most are supplied by small-scale local breeders who sell of their non show / breeding quality stock.

Anyway, back to the original post - most rescues are run by individuals, like myself, who do so voluntarily with no funding. There is no central body through which to monitor standards, hutch size etc. and so you will find that requirements vary quite a lot between individual rescues, but I'm sure we're all trying to do our best for the piggies and get them the best possible homes. Whether a rescue chooses to reject a home because of lack of grazing is really up to them, and if it is part of their rehoming agreement then that's something they've obviously considered important. Personally I have rehomed a pair of piggies to a lovely lady in a flat but we had a long chat about their diet and she already knew an awful lot about giving them a balanced diet and lots of variety of veg if they were to have no grazing time, and this was a great home for them. As Nutmeg rightly says, you do your best for each piggy and judge each home on its merits. Most people don't realise that we are doing this off our own backs and usually at huge expense..... I'd like to think I'm not awkward, but if I'm not happy with where a pig is going then it doesn't go - simple as that!

Sophie
x
 
Also to add - like many other things, it's harder to adopt a pig, or a rescue dog, or even a child, than it is to get one from a pet shop / breeder / have a child yourself! I know every time I turn down a home that they can just go out today and buy some petshop pigs, but you have to look after the pigs in your care and rehome them to the best home possible.

Sophie
x
 
*Cavy Lover* said:
I did not say all small pet shops use reputable breeders, I said I prefer small pet shops that use reputable breeders. And most will check out the breeders as they don’t want sick, scared or possibly pregnant stock, they want healthy well adjusted pets. I have seen first hand the animals that come from the mass producers they are petrified as never been handled and have travelled a long way, they are often ill are have mites etc,
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And yet my experience of many pet shops is that they don't know much themselves about the conditions animals should be kept in. They sell under sized accommodation and give out wrong advice to people, so I would hardly take their word on what a good breeding set up was!
 
LucyWoo said:
And yet my experience of many pet shops is that they don't know much themselves about the conditions animals should be kept in. They sell under sized accommodation and give out wrong advice to people, so I would hardly take their word on what a good breeding set up was!
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Yes thats true, but some do, as I already said not all are bad. Some rescues dont no how to keep the animals either.
 
BeckyP said:
I highly doubt this is the right forum to be going around writing daft things like that
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Its not daft its true, there is a rescue local to us and they dont know how to keep the animals. They are in a hell of a state, they have food and thats about as far as it goes. If you ring up too see the guineas they wont let you in where they are all kept they will bring a couple down to you to chose from
 
*Cavy Lover* said:
Its not daft its true, there is a rescue local to us and they dont know how to keep the animals. They are in a hell of a state, they have food and thats about as far as it goes. If you ring up too see the guineas they wont let you in where they are all kept they will bring a couple down to you to chose from
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If you feel there are animal welfare issues you should report them to the rspca who will investigate and any genuine complaint and any genuine rescue will welcome a visit from the rspca to verify there standards of care and welfare
 
Well i have had bad experiences with rspca, only my local branches, infact the other branches were wonderful, i shows that sometimes the problem is the variation on standards that causes a problem as people dont know where they stand.

On a rabbit forum i wanted to adopt a giant rabbit, not remotely fussy just wanted to give a good loving home to one. Someone from rspca said they knew of one, duly grilled me on the care lol which was a good thing and we went over all the ifs and buts and i took pictures of the set up and other animals and all was well. The bunny in question was from a branch about 3 hours away and i was happy to drive and get him no ****. So next was to get my local branch to do the home visit and go from there.
However, my local branch refused to do the visit untill "you have built a rapor with a particular rabbit"
I adivsed all details and said i would indeed be going up to see him and then if all well bring him home. They said they would not conduct the home visit until after i had seen him, i was not allowed to combine meeting and taking him home into one visit. I explained it was summer hols, i have three children and my husband would need to drive all of us up to him so would understandably be hard to make the long journey twice.
The branch who held the bunny were happy as they were aware we had talked, planned, etc for weeks, i had even removed a door and put up a gate for bonding, bought dog beds everything but my branch refused point blank and told me that they could not understand why anyone would want to rescue or rehome an animal they had not personally met. I do not understand this as i did not care on the personality have bunnies already and was prepared and happy to give him a loving home even if he turned out to bite and destroy the place as well he could lol.
I did go elsewhere to another rescue who were fine with the idea and i now have a lovely rescue bunny.

Also i hope this doesnt make anyone cross but our local rescues wont let any family with a child under 3 have a cat or kitten from them, which again i find difficult, they wont even agree if you already have cats.
And yet another was unhappy to let a friend rescue a cat as she worked, they said someone needed to be home all day to be able to give the cat a good home.


I think rescues are great and there just seem to be a few exceptions with possibly over stringent rules in some cases.

With pet shops, i dont think people in general realise the problems. until they come on forums like this etc then are happy to look at rescues.
I think they can still be loving people who adore animals and give them wonderful homes but still get there pets from pet shops.
When i first came on to forums i thought they were just animal lovers chatting about their adorable pets and had no idea about the issues and how strongly people feel about pet shops.
As i doubt pet shops or breeders will stop i think it is good that pets at home do an adoption section as this encourages a change in the right direction.
 
I understand where you are coming from - unfortunately in endevouring to find the best possible home for an animal (any species) some organisations can be overly strict with the rules and therefore miss out on potentially excellent homes.

It's a difficult balance when running a rescue - on one hand you need to have rehoming criteria that need to be met, and these vary from one rescue to another - but you are also aware that if you turn down a home, for any reason, the same person could just pop along to a pet shop or and pick up an animal, no homecheck, no questions asked. However for our own peace of mind, we have to do the best for each animal in our care and if I'm not happy with a prospective home, I will not rehome to them. At the end of the day I would rather the rescue guineas stayed here than risk them ending up somewhere unsuitable, and I think many small independent rescues feel the same!

Sophie
x
 
Yeh i think home checks are really important as you are able to judge properly then the sort of home an animal is coming from xx
I think people need to see it less as a check and more as an opportunity also to find out as much info as poss and get some really usefull help and advise.
I think people get all defensive as though it is a critical test rather than something positive for everyone.
 
I have rehomed from about five different rescues so far, and had problems with only one small one that was not specialised and frankly didn't know much about guinea pigs (including the fact that not all piggies will automatically bond "if you simply stick it out"- after a fight!)

They were unfortunately too much "by the book" about the right kind of set-up, but went absolutely off the line (including bad language) after things didn't go to plan.

Otherwise, I have made only good experiences (including RSCPA) and have huge respect for the work all rescues are doing. Especially dealing with difficult people who can't see the reason for rules and standards!

I am sorry when I hear about people being up off getting piggies from a rescue, because they haven't got a lawn, or when I hear about rescues that will rehome only indoors or outdoors piggies. Those with extremely tight rules, I feel, can be their worst enemies.

I wish there was something of a common standard for all pet rescues with guide lines for every kind of animal!
 
lovelygirl said:
If you feel there are animal welfare issues you should report them to the rspca who will investigate and any genuine complaint and any genuine rescue will welcome a visit from the rspca to verify there standards of care and welfare
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They have been repeatedly reported by others as well as my self, but nothing has been done, what ever the animal they take it from fish to horses.
 
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