Arkansas: 500 breeder pigs need a home?

[Westleys_Mom]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]An ad I found in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]GUINEA PIGS, complete herd dispersal , 500 breeders & equipment . $5 and up. Call 501-724-5990 [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]I looked up the phone number and they are located in Bald Knob, AR. I really hope 500 guinea pigs is a mistake..thats seems like an awful lot of guinea pigs. [/FONT]

*I posted this in GuineaLynx too.

[JennG]

All I can say is Oh My Goodness!! I hope that number is wrong!

[pigsforlife]

This makes me angry, I hope that number is wrong, but if it isn't how could someone or a group of people, breed guinea pigs to the point of 500 guinea pigs? Some piggers may be rehomed but the majority will probably have to be euthanized as no rescue or shelter is capable of taking in 500 guinea pigs, as it stands many are over flowing.

[Westleys_Mom]

It really breaks my heart, especially knowing they are only an hour away from me. I'm going to call them tomorrow morning to find out the details.
Keep your fingers crossed that its just a misprint on the the number of piggies.

[Westleys_Mom]

I have bad news.

I called the number in the above ad, and the lady told me that YES, there is in fact AT LEAST 500 guinea pigs in need of a home. She told me that her husband is the main breeder/supplier of guinea pigs for all PetsMarts and Petcos in central Arkansas. Since he is about to retire, he wants to get rid of his entire herd of piggies. She told me they weren't really up for individual adoption because he wants to sell the "entire operation" all at once, but they are selling a bunch of males and some females at the Beebe, AR flea market this Saturday 9/8. She also said they have all breeds, ranging from texels, Peruvians, Abyssinians, etc. I feel terrible about all these pigs that are being unloaded like inanimate objects. I'm sure they aren't getting the proper care and love they need. I don't even know what to do or how to help this horrible situation! I'm at a total loss!

[Ly&Pigs]

There aren't any guinea pig rescues in Arkansas that I am aware of. There are rescues but very few even take in guinea pigs. Most of these pigs if not sold to some ignorant person wanting to get into their own breeding business will end up at the local humane societies and probably will be euthanized because the shelters/humane societies won't be prepared to deal with them. I can only imagine the conditions these poor babies are living in.

To me, this is very shocking. I would have never guessed there was a huge pig breeding business going on in Bald Knob (I am about 1 1/2 hours away from there). I feel so badly for all these pigs.

Maybe we Arkansan's can contact shelters/humane societies and see if they may be willing to help?

[PiggieMamaKelly]

This sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. I can imagine some idiot who doesn't know a guinea pig from a gerbil deciding it would be a great opportunity to get into the breeding business and taking on these pigs just to let them suffer and die because he doesn't know what he's doing.

[aqh88]

It doesn't sound like they would give these pigs to a rescue or shelter anyway. They want to sell all of them and equipment as a business. That means they won't give up without getting money for each one and just because it's seen as their business they may not give them to a rescue even if they paid the money(which none will and shouldn't). I'm not sure what could be done. If someone could come up with a solution it sounds like it would be a chance to take away one of the sources for petstore pigs but I don't see how it would be accomplished. Hard to imagine there are really breeding operations out there with 500+ guinea pigs at a time.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

It seems like it would be nearly impossible to keep 500 pigs in sanitary conditions. Maybe someone in that area could act interested in order to take a look at them. If they are in poor conditions animal control could be called to seize the pigs.

[Ly&Pigs]

Here's a link to the gl thread- Guinea Lynx :: Topic - Arkansas Ad 500 breeders in need of a home?

I suggested to Westley's Mom that maybe she could go there (I also think if she and I live close enough to one another that I could go with her.) and act/pretend as if she's interested in buying the business and document the conditions and maybe try to get photos. Then maybe the local or even statewide humane societies/shelters could be contacted if they are in bad conditions along with the news media.

[Tulia&Susie]

Wow how sad Those poor piggies. I can't imagine the condition their in. Actually I just don't want to picture. How truley sad someone could do that.

[Me&Jake]

Ly, I'm just as close or maybe a bit closer than you are to Beebee. I'm just your side of Jonesboro. I don't know what I can do to help as far as housing I'm full, but I'm willing to help any other way that I can. Let me know if there is anything that I can do. I know I don't post much here but I lurk almost everyday. This just makes me incredibly ill, and I am willing to help in any way that I can.

[Jenni_Feathers]

There is a Guinea Pig rescue in St. Louis that may help. I'm not sure if they could but I'm sure they wouold want to, its a really small one though and they dont have a building only foster homes but they are a good rescue and make the people adopt two and have C&Ccages and stuff like they're called St. Louis Animal Harbor and Rescue they do not to my knowledge have a website but here is their petfinder page, it has a phone number and email address and stuff on it.
St <-- their page

Maybe if you get Guinea Pig rescues and cavy savvy people from all around the midwest or even the whole U.S. together and rescue as many as possible maybe most of them could find good homes. Thats also a good idea Ly, to act like you want to buy the buisness then get the media's attetion, plus it could be a good way to get out to the media what Guinea Pigs REALLY need (i.e. C&C cages, hay, veggies etc). Best of luck.

[PiggieMamaKelly]

Any new developments in this situation?

[Guinea_Piggin]

The whole thing just makes me sick. All those piggies, I don't even want to imagine what conditions they're living in. I'm going to go cuddle my boys now and clean their cage.

[seagirl96]

Wow! I have seen other ads for herd reduction or sale but nothing anywhere near this number. How can anyone possibly take care of 500 guinea pigs, even if they do nothing else? It took me four hours yesterday to clean cages for my ten gp's. Ly, if there's anything I can do long distance, please let me know.

[Fluffy_Guinea]

Yeah I too would like to know if there's anything I can do long distance.

[Ly&Pigs]

Westleys_Mom had been emailing me regarding this situation but I haven't heard from her as of late. I haven't been able to go to Bald Knob myself to check out the situation. She was going to go to Beebe a week ago Saturday to talk to the woman selling pigs at the Flea Market, but I don't know if she went or not. I'm hoping to hear from her soon to get an update on the situation.

[deathnotronic]

Those poor little piggies! I'm all the way in Michigan and I want to drive there and save them!

[Love4Piggers]

Oh my, a breeding mill of this magnitude just makes me sick.
I can't believe it really is 500 pigs. I agree with the posts on GL that they shouldn't be receive any compensation to "get rid" of the pigs. And then the pet stores would just have to go on a search for a new breeder, once again as has been said on GL. This is so heartbreaking, and it's so hard to know what to do.

Ly, please let us know if you hear anything, or if anyone has been to visit and gotten any photographs or anything.