Debate: Are Guinea Pigs From Gumtree And Other Websites "rescue" Guinea Pigs

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I didn't mean people shouldn't ever buy pets from a pet shop. I just meant that buying up all the piggies from a pet shop under the impression that you were rescuing them isn't actually helping in the long run or in my opinion "rescuing" them. A lot of those guinea pigs might go to good caring homes and although the conditions in my local pet shop aren't great they aren't awful either (I cant speak for every pet shop obviously and I'm sure there is some horrible ones out there). I think all pet shops should have to be required by law to meet certain conditions and have some sort of system where getting a pet has to actually be discussed first and ACCURATE requirements given out before they will even consider selling a pet to someone. I don't ever see that really happening though as it wont make profits and a lot of the pet store employees don't know enough about the different animals

Obviously there is exceptions to every situation though such as the case above where the guinea pig was in poor health and the pet store refused to acknowledge it
 
I would interpret a 'rescue' animal as one who has been rescued from a bad situation. Now whether the animal reaches its new home directly or via a shelter or rescue center would therefore for me be irrelevant. If a person is capable of fulfilling physically, financially and emotionally that animal's sometimes complex needs then yes they have 'rescued' that animal.

I consider that we rescued our recent new piggies, they were all mature, ex-breeding 'stock' that had been allowed to get in a terrible state of neglect. They (and the babies they were carrying) are now in a much better situation due to us providing the care they needed. I feel we rescued them.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I think a petition could be a great idea xx
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Yes if it is worded right of course. If someone has legal experience around current licensing laws that could put something together for animal rescues in general then that would be fabulous. Unfortunately I tend to waffle and do not have any legal expertise (well apart from around debt and welfare benefits with a speciality in 3-4 years ago :))) It would need to appeal to anyone who rescues animals, so possibly a focus on the more common cats and dogs to get a big following and perhaps to get promotion by some of the bigger charities like cats protection etc. I know a couple of solicitors who are animal lovers but don't know if they have ever dealt with licensing so will ask around, they may know of someone.
 
I run a rescue & we have a facebook group. We often have members of the group coming on & pointing out gumtree, preloved or the loads of facebook pet selling or free groups. Whether they are free or have a price I will contact the owners & explain the perils of disposing of their pets this way. I will offer them a home in our rescue or offer at least to put them on our waiting list. Often people are too trusting & aren't aware of the dog baters etc. I find that well over 50% will offer to surrender them to us even if they were originally advertised for sale. We have taken in guinea pigs from over 200 miles away & have friends in Scotland who will bring rescued piggies to us.

Our rescue has been checked by our local council animal welfare services & they now are passing on any guinea pigs they get to us. We got our 1st pair from them in the autumn & they were rehomed last week after a stay here of 19 weeks.

All the guinea pigs that come into our rescue are checked over when they come in. They are weighed, checked for mites or any other problems. If anything is found they are at the vets the next morning. They are all kept for at least 2 to 3 weeks in quarantine & only put up for adoption in healthy condition.

I would love for it to be the law for all animal rescues, shelters or sanctuaries to be licenced by their local council as it would then get the bad ones closed down. I'm sure it is these who can sometimes give us a collective bad name.

I also run the facebook group The Piggy Train. Only earlier this week we had a so called rescue asking for help to transport a piggy. I asked other members of the admin if they had heard of her & even members who were not far from where she was had never heard of her. When I started to ask questions to her about her rescue she got defensive & left the group.

I could go on forever on this subject but I'll leave it at that for now x
 
I would interpret a 'rescue' animal as one who has been rescued from a bad situation. Now whether the animal reaches its new home directly or via a shelter or rescue center would therefore for me be irrelevant. If a person is capable of fulfilling physically, financially and emotionally that animal's sometimes complex needs then yes they have 'rescued' that animal.
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I agree with this. If an animal is living in horrendous conditions and I rehome that animal and take on all the associated behavioural, health implications etc how does that make the animal any less rescued than if a Rescue takes them in and does the exact same thing? I always support rescues and have fostered for several. They do amazing jobs. But as an experienced owner I like to feel I am helping by taking on that burden myself. yes one adopted from a rescue leaves space for the next one, but every animal a rescue takes in no doubt costs them much more than the adoption fee they get when they rehome it so surely by taking on that extra cost myself I am helping in a small way.
 
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