New Petstore guinea pig abuse case ( with photos )

[enchantingcavy]

Hi Guys,

Ya I know the fun just never ends.
In my other thread some of you may have read that last night I received a phone call from someone that wanted me to report a petstore case to the rspca ( he also did ). He had told me there was a dead guinea pig in one cage and then gave me a description of the situation. I wasn't sure what to do so I took a trip down to the petstore myself because I figured trying to get photos would help them to act quicker, and also I wanted to see the case with my own eyes before I myself did anything about it...as it turns out this is a really serious and urgent case.
I've just been to the petshop and it's REALLY BAD!
I contacted the rspca twice today, once from the shopping centre outside the petshop. The first time was this morning when I saw the pigs, the second time was to check when they are inspecting because I told them it's only a matter of a few small days and they'll be dead. They've told me they can't inspect anything on weekends.

Conditions of the pigs:
- Kept in fishtanks WITH LIDS size around 50cm x 25cm deep. 3-4 pigs in each currently although there were more.
- NO food or water at all
- Bedding is soaked and not lined so under the .5cm layer of filthy bedding their is nothing but the fishtank glass.
- I managed to hold each guinea pigs and two are suffering respiratory infections minor though and they will last 2 more days without treatment so I'll be on ths rspca's back all weekend so this is acted on otherwise I'll deal with it myself.
- All pigs are completely wet underneath
- All pigs are skinny and have backbones sticking out they would weigh around 200-300grams tops
- Now to the worst part. Lift the lid up and the AMMONIA is atrosious and is what will kill these animals quicker than anything else. It's so bad there are nats flying around outside the cage aswell.
I didn't speak to the lady at the store but will be visiting again tomorrow to check that all the guinea pigs havn't gone any further downhill andf hopefully on monday the rspca will be out. None of their rats or mice have any food or water either. The dogs didn't have any either althought he dogs were alive naturally as they can probably tolerate a little longer than the small animals.

Anyhow that's the rundown.
Pics: ( yuh i know crap quality but i was kinda hurrying ). My sister was distracting the store owner and we kept it " light " and were pretending to be silly and have a genuine interest in buying a pig so as to not seem sus.

[enchantingcavy]

That's not food in their bowls its soaked woodshavings.

[enchantingcavy]

More pics...

[Hansel]

How horrible! Please keep us updated on how things go.

[enchantingcavy]

Last pic...one of the mice cages...no food or water.


BTW this place is not air conditioned and the temperature yesterday was mid high 30's.

[Myspoiltpiggies]

That is terrible!!!

[2pigs4rats]

Ok that is the worst case of petstore pig abuse I have ever seen! Those poor things...

[iLoveDusty]

Aww, poor piggies!! and poor mice!

[bbqbarbiedolls]

It makes me so sad to see how badly some people treat animals. How do they sleep at night? Those piggies look so scared.

[enchantingcavy]

Hi Guys,

The little white pig is a walking stick im not sure if its pictured but i opened the lid of the cage and all of the pigs were squeeling so loud at me and the white one started climbing my arm and biting my skin...trying to find some food...

If the rspca dosnt go out monday I don't know what the heck to do!!! I have to get them out of there asap. The ammonia so so strong it's going to kill them and cause respiratory infections within more than 2 days I'm 100% sure. It's overpowering i'd be sick smelling it for an hour in no oxygen let alone days on end like they are...

The pigs are $15.00 dollars each there are 7 all up so to purchase all seven it'll cost $79 US dollars.

I'm happy to pay for a couple but sadly because ive just had the whole 7 recent rescue pig costs and vet bills and several other current rescues vet bills I just can't literally afford it. Even with donations currently that have been so kindly given, it's only enough for the care of these 7 I couldn't afford it.

If the rspca dosn't go out monday I had an idea...do you reckon if I bought all 7 pigs there that then i could take them to the rspca to show them the condition and let them know why ive taken them...that maybe they could get the petshop to reinbuse me or something? I'd be showing the rspca the pigs no matter what because I wouldnt want the case dropped. They have pics now that ive taken anyhow so they know the state they are in and it wouldnt be like im ruining the case by taking them. At the same time i dont want to support the petstore though. If the rspca dosnt check them on monday and tells me they wont be seeing them for a number of days, if anyone here wants one of the 7 pigs saved if they'd like to donate $11.00 US dollars to the sanctuary then I can go and save some of these little guys....I can probably afford two of them myself at the moment.
This is only a worst case scenario...but knowing the rspca....the worst case scenario may be likely. I could not be on their backs more though I assure everyone here I'm doing all I can to get them there asap. I don't want to see ANY of these pigs dead and I'm going in there tomorrow to check them again. If any look like they are going downhill and cant hang on until the rspca comes then they'll be bought for the sake of their life ( tomorrow is sunday and then the next day is monday I cant see them hanging on much longer than that without getting sick or dying ). Three of the pigs currently look sick and have minor respiratory infections already from the ammonia. They are all wet all over their tummies in urine aswell.
The petshop owner has a majoy attitude problem and didnt want to hear a word of anything the man that reported them had to offer so I dont think i could say anything that would make her change her mind about these pigs...

My other BIG concern is back teeth malocclussion developing. Some of the pigs are so skinny now and there is no hay or food in the cages I'm very worried that some may succumb to this...

Gosh I don't know what to do...hang on until monday I guess and hope they can hang on to. If anyone wants one or two of these guys saved in the meantime and would like to donate $11 US dollars I am happy to go in there tomorrow instead of waiting until monday and take whoever looks worst. I don't know if it sounds horrible or not saying the above but I guess protocol is in place yet if it'd make anyone else feel better seeing some taken out sooner rather than later, then this is your chance to save a piggy in a way I guess...

The sanctuary paypal account is: fizzygirl28@hotmail.com

*~jess~*

[Guinea_Gal]

Oh my. This is so depressing. Have you tried going up to the manager, telling them you run a guinea pig rescue, and asking if you would be able to take them for free because they obviously cannot care for them.

If that doesn't work, I would buy them and take them to the RSPCA, like you said. They need to get out of there.

[VoodooJoint]

Sadly buying them will only make the situation worse. As I'm certain you know giving that shop money is only rewarding their behaviour. Plus even if you hand them over to the RSPCA their hands will be tied.

The RSPCA/SPCA needs to catch them in the act in order to do anything. If you remove the animals, even with your pictures, the evidence is gone and they can do nothing.

You need to put pressure on the RSPCA to get in there as soon as possible. Get others to call too. The RSPCA can possibly put a stop to this abuse and maybe even put these people out of business. DO NOT buy the animals. By doing so you are only dooming the next batch of GPs to the same fate and tying the RSPCA's hands..

[i love piggies]

A few months ago I visited a pet store in my old town. This pet store used to be quite good. They had the usual-cats,dogs,rabbits,guinea pigs, rats&mice, birds and fish. They treated the animals so well and most of the time took in "unwanted" pets.

But now there are new owners, urgh they are horrible. I went to look at the birds and there was a little canary with it's leg twisted through the door of the cage. It was broken, and hanging upside down. A worker girl walked right past and ignored it.
So I took the poor little bird and walked right up to the owner.
He was very cross and asked me what I was doing.
I told him what happened and he asked me if I done it to the bird. That made me more angry. He took the bird off me and said he would have words to the girl. So I waited around to see if he did. He didn't
So I did.
I walked out of the store and have never been back, I dont think I would be welcome.

[JennG]

OMG-I'm really hoping they hang on until the RSPCA gets in there and do something. I can't even imagine it. Keep us posted.

[enchantingcavy]

Hi Guys,


Well today is monday. It's 9'45am in the morning and it's going to be a very hot day. The ammonia in those cages will be very bad due to the humidity and heat today. Yesterday was nice and cool so I'd say they would've been ok.

If the rspca dosn't ring me by midday I'll be ringing them.

You are right it is best to leave them there until the inspection. If they can't get out today though I might take a quick trip in to make sure they're all ok still. There were 4 ( apparently 5 this is the tank the one died in apparently ) in one of the tanks and the little white one was a worry in this tank so if he's gone downhill I could possibly take him only because the cage will still be overcrowded and the same even with one pig less...and I'd let ythe rspca know one was taken. ( if it came to that )

*~jess~*

[JackSpicerRules]

:'( Piggies shouldn't have to live like that. They deserve responsible owners who will love and take care of them unitl they die.

[enchantingcavy]

OMG Guys you wont believe this!!!!

I just rung the rspca to check on the case and the stupid woman didn't even write it down!!!
She told me ( i gopt the same woman as the other day ) that she didn't get the exact address of the store so didn't send the case through OMG!!! she didn't even ask me for the address. I'm so angry right now the rspca is so bloody hopeless only now has she put the case through the computer and still can't tell em when abouts they'd be out to check it. I may have to just end up buying the lot and taking them to the rspca this is ridiculus.

*~jess~*