My cousins are INBREEDING guinea pigs and I don't know how to make them stop!

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They have a male and a female guinea pig who are brother and sister, and they are breeding them. I spoke to my 12-year-old cousin about it, and she now wants to stop (she said she wanted to before, because they were cute and she got $5 from the pet shop for each one! pow-pow) But, my 16 year old cousin doesn't see a problem with it. She tells me it doesn't matter, and that I should get over it. GRRRR! I am SO angry! The parents are HORRIBLE, but I don't think they want to breed them. Actually, they probably don't care as long as the babies are sold at five weeks (they think five weeks is appropriate, so they are probably selling pregnant guinea pigs. We got/saved one of theirs at six weeks and she was pregnant).

What can I do? The 12-year-old doesn't want to give either of them up, so they might put them in separate cages, which is also mean since they have been living together for so long! But, she won't get him neutered because she thinks it's cruel or something (oh yeah, it's SO much crueller than making a female have endless babies!) I don't know what to do. We have a male who is nearly two weeks old and I wouldn't mind bonding their male and our male, but the parents only want two pigs at a time and the 12-year-old won't part with the female and the 16-year-old wants to keep the male!

I can't stand irresponsible pet owners like this. I would love to get the RSPCA on to them but that's a bit extreme. Any suggestions? Advice? I don't want to let them keep doing this! It's torture for the poor female(s), and for me! :(
 
IF they do not feel it is cruel, try to explain to them that the babies will be deformed due to inbreeding, so they wouldnt be able to sell them anyway.

Poor piggies.
 
What the hell are they thinking! Jeez is it muppet day or something!

I would get some literature explaining about i n b r e e d i n g and the problems that can arise from that. I think Guinea Lynx will have some. Just try and put them off the whole thing. Thats all you can do I'm afraid. When it comes to breeding people that do it think they have the rights to do it, I personally think it is barbaric and why would you want to subject an animal to such things when there are too many things that can go wrong. Animals can't speak, so it is up to us to educate and this is one thing I am very passionate about as you probably are yourself. :)

Good luck with it, let us know how you get on. :)
 
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What a horrible situation you're in! And they think neutering is CRUEL?
 
The thing is that they have already bred two litters and all of the babies were fine, which is good for the guinea pigs but it means that they haven't learnt anything :( I'm scared of the parents though so it's really hard to talk to them. Maybe I could suggest that our baby boar and their adult boar could live together separate from the female and her future pups so that she at least gets a break. However, they have bad living conditions for their guinea pigs and I don't want my boar subjected to that. And, we wouldn't be allowed to have their boar here at my place. Oh this is so confusing :S and I'm SO angry! We got one of their females for our friends who wanted a friend for their guinea pig, and the 12-year-old made my Dad pay for her and her mother didn't even say anything! Even though I was helping to find her a home! We helped them by finding her a home so they didn't have to worry about it, and they made us pay! SO unbelievably angry right now...grrrr....
 
yes ring the spca.there will probably be not that many signs other than smaller heads and they will be more prone to illness and diseases.then if very inbred they will be polydactyl and have extra toes.i would ring the spca as even ringing the pet store wont do any good.have them removed from them.contact your local guinea rescue and they will help you I'm sure...even if they just ring and explain how it is wrong it may help
 
I would get on at them daily about what they are doing and show them everything I could find about inbreeding. Good luck, I hope you get them to stop :(
 
OK, I have some good-ish news. They are going to take the male to the pet shop, and keep one of the female babies with the mother. Hopefully they get the males out before there are more pregnancies. Of course it is not good that they are taking him to the pet shop, but it is better than leaving him with the female.

And another thing, the piggies' hutch is DISGUSTING. I went there today and we put them in their run, and I suggested we clean the cage out because it was so gross. So I, my 12-year-old cousin and my little siblings (who didn't help much! :P) cleaned it out. The hutch is full of shredded paper which has ink on it (is that bad?), with no hay or anything. They get grass but I don't know how often it is. So, we cleaned it out, and there were WORMS and SLATERS in the hutch! It stank so bad...it was absolutely revolting. I just wanted to smack my cousin across the face! Grrr...but at least they aren't going to keep inbreeding, however I doubt this will be the last litter as I don't know if they will get the male out in time, and I don't think they will separate the babies when they are three weeks old.

So it's not perfect, but it's an improvement :)
 
If they are neglecting piggies then I would report them hun. I know you wont want to do that but its not fair to the piggies to live like that
 
Ewww sounds horrid! To me it sounds like the pigs have worms and need to see a vet. :{
 
Could you not get your parents to talk to them? I'm sure if you explained to your parents, they would support you, my parents wouldn't, but they don't care about animals much, it's mainly just me.. Just explain the situation, maybe give your cousins some leaflets/books about guinea pig care. Maybe find some pictures of inbred piggies and show them the pictures, show them how wrong everything could go. If they have any brains at all (no offence), they'll take notice of what you say.
 
The thing is, I don't think I can report them because they would get so angry and it would split the family, even though I don't want the pigs living in those conditions! I will check on them when I can, and if conditions don't improve I will seriously talk to the 12-year-old who looks after them. Oh, sorry I meant garden worms! Not the type that animals can get. Should have explained that! This is so bad for the pigs :( I am so going to run a rescue shelter when I'm an adult!
 
Oops beat me to it Rancor! I have talked to my parents about it, and although they think it's bad they aren't really interested. I will try and tell them about the risks and every time I go give my cousin some more tips on how to look after them. Maybe I should take some hay over (and say we have excess or something) for them. I don't think they have got any brains at all! No one with brains would subject animals to that!
 
Do you mean you're angry at them or angry at me for being hesitant to report them? :S
 
Oh ok I thought you were angry at me! I know, it's disgusting. I just couldn't believe it today when I was cleaning the hutch. Thanks for being so supportive. I really hope I can make a difference to the lives of these piggies. I guess I already have, because they didn't even know how to find out the sex of their piggies! At least now they know that they have a boy and things can get better. Thanks :)
 
hi i have been reading this thread and just want to say i had a fantastic relationship with my auntie and she was neglecting and not caring at all for any of her animals so i didnt think twice i reported her and dealt with the fact that she will never talk to me again,all i can say is i felt much better for saving those animals.also i see your an aussie in nsw "backyard breeding" or inbreeding is illegal it is still done but more so dogs than guineas which is still sad but if it is illegal where you are then they would definantly have the piggys removed.taking feed over there wont help it will just make themslacker i learnt right now i am going through the rspca for a group of 6 horses they are injured,had not vet care,and are frail and thin.now they want to witness the abuse so we are sitting tight except we started feeding the horses because we felt sad now the horses dont get fed at all except by us and as youcan imagine its around $500 per week but i cant just stop can i.you dont want that happening to you and what if they aqcuire another male sooner than what you think then your back to square one i would take photos for proof and speak to someone asap.but whatever you do know that we will be here to talk you through it :)
 
PLEASEHELPSAVEboris said:
hi i have been reading this thread and just want to say i had a fantastic relationship with my auntie and she was neglecting and not caring at all for any of her animals so i didnt think twice i reported her and dealt with the fact that she will never talk to me again,all i can say is i felt much better for saving those animals.also i see your an aussie in nsw "backyard breeding" or inbreeding is illegal it is still done but more so dogs than guineas which is still sad but if it is illegal where you are then they would definantly have the piggys removed.taking feed over there wont help it will just make themslacker i learnt right now i am going through the rspca for a group of 6 horses they are injured,had not vet care,and are frail and thin.now they want to witness the abuse so we are sitting tight except we started feeding the horses because we felt sad now the horses dont get fed at all except by us and as youcan imagine its around $500 per week but i cant just stop can i.you dont want that happening to you and what if they aqcuire another male sooner than what you think then your back to square one i would take photos for proof and speak to someone asap.but whatever you do know that we will be here to talk you through it :)
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Wow you sound like you've really made a difference in the lives of many animals! Good on you, but it is a shame you've had to suffer because of it :(

I think it should be OK now, as they are removing the male and they don't want any more breeding to take place. I will find out when the babies are born, and will insist that they are removed at three weeks of age, even if it means lending them a spare cage or smuggling them back here in my hair! {:|

I thought about getting photos today but it was difficult to do because they were home. If they are not there one time when I drop by I will let myself into the back yard and take some photos. I really just want to get my cousin excited about owning piggies so that she wants to take care of them! I think that would help a lot.

Thanks for all the advice! :)
 
hehe yes its nice helping but also draining at least its better lets hope they start cleaning the cage and just remember you may love piggies but you can't make someone care if they cant be bothered you will just upset yourself trying but give it a go anyway only one way to find out;)goodluck
 
I'm just hoping that because she's young I can change her views a little hehe. I've already convinced her not to breed and I might be able to get her more interested in them. I'll see. I hope nothing goes wrong with my guinea pigs now as three of them are inbred (we got a pregnant inbred female from her, and the two babies are inbred). So cruel :( I'm glad to be doing something to help though.
 
Yeah they all seem very happy and healthy at the moment, so it looks like things should be fine. Thanks for the support :)
 
Well from what i can see i think you've done a brilliant job love x)x)
If not for you i hate to think......arghhhhh........as you said what were they thinking?
We do need to educate more, people should be aware of little animals lives too :{
Good luck chick i'm sure with lots of help from you and i hope you're parents backing you'll get thru to them :)
 
Thanks Glynis :)

Your support is keeping me motivated! Fingers crossed! xx
 
aussiegirl said:
Thanks Glynis :)

Your support is keeping me motivated! Fingers crossed! xx
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Go for it love, but remember............be kind and listen too, even if it grates on your nerves, but try to help and educate them .... even with some pre printed stuff from the internet heaps of stuff from here you could give them xxxxxxxxxxxx
ahhhhhhhh love i'll be thinking of you xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
 
Good luck with this really difficult situation! My thoughts are with you as it would be so difficult to say to an older family member that they are mistreating animals as they probably don't think that they are!

My thoughts are with you x
 
I might introduce her to this forum, good idea. Her parents might not approve though grrr...I guess education is the best way, even though all I really want to do is smuggle them back to my place! :D
 
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