Ownership Ethics

[Brandy]

I'm really struggling this week. Recently I had to put one of my sweet piggies to sleep due to a dental abscess to where I couldn't afford the procedure to fix it. It was a tough decision with a lot of areas to consider and ultimately it was the best option. During these tough times, my mind is obviously mourning the loss of CC, but I can't help but feel conflicted thinking about my other piggy whom CC left behind. It's tough. It puts a pain in my chest that Poppy will never see CC again, her bonded pair, and I'm left thinking about how I'm going to eventually ease Poppy's loneliness. Where I'm struggling is, I now know that if another one of my piggies got seriously sick, I wouldn't be able to help them...as much as I wish I could. So where is the line of ethics? Do I go and rescue another guinea pig so that Poppy won't be lonely knowing full well that I won't be able to take care of them if anything serious happened? Do I surrender Poppy hoping that somebody might be able to take better care of her than I? Do I keep Poppy and not get her a companion until her own passing? I love her so much it would be hard to let her go too. I don't know what the ethical thing to do is. It feels so complicated.

I had worked at a vet for about a year, and I had encountered so many cases of surrender, euthanasia due to financial woes, and many more tragic cases that myself and my coworkers found so easy to pass judgement on. And even though many of these cases every week, I never thought it would happen to me. We'd snark at each other, "Why do people get pets when they know they can't afford them", but now I think of the hundreds of thousands of pets in shelters who would still live a far better life with a home and family, regardless of whether that family could foot an expensive vet bill. "You're a despicable human being if you surrender your animal", Now every case is different and some cases can be despicable, but I think of the people who simply can't care for their animals the way they want to and want to give them potential for a better life in the care of someone else.

I also think of every forum and guinea pig book I read, guinea pigs need companionship. So as you can see, I'm stuck in between a rock and a hard place and really want to know where the ethical line is. It seems no matter what I do I'm just going to be bit in the butt by my conscious and the echoes of judgement I've heard from other animal people. So I'm open to discussion, what do you guys think?

 

[Pawz]

While it is true that piggies should have the companionship of others of their kind it is easier said than done.

There are a few on the forum with single piggies for various reasons so no one is here to judge you.
I am sorry for the loss of CC but only you can decide what is best for Poppy as you are the own who knows every tiny detail of your particular dilemma. You mentioned things are a little financially difficult at the moment, perhaps this is something that is due to change in the near future?

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

This is not judgement at all, we all know circumstances can change and not always for the better.

If I were in your shoes I would look to rehome my remaining piggy, even though it would probably kill me. Rather than taking on an extra life that I knew I couldn't support if they became unwell. It will be difficult but perhaps you can have some say in where they go?

It's all too easy to give opinions on theoretical circumstances but it wouldn't be an option for me to have a piggy pts if I had other options, even if a rescue was one of them.

Sorry for the recent experiences yourself and you furbabies have been through.