Why California?

[bunnyluv17]

Is it just me or does it seem like California has the most homeless rabbits and guinea pigs of any region in the country? Here on the east coast, we also have lots of homeless small animals but it just seems like California has 10X as much. It seems like I am constantly hearing on the web about california shelters where dozens of small animals are on death row. I was just wondering, why? Are there more breeders or animal mills in California?

[DaCourt]

I don't know about other areas, but Cali has a lot of breeders. There are a lot of 4-H groups too, so then you have kids breeding as well.

[smoot]

Also, a lot of people live in California, so there would be more (abandoned) animals. The fair weather probably makes it easier to breed small animals since you could have really big outdoor housing. On the east coast you would have to have them indoors to protect them from the cold.

[Access]

California also has a very temperate climate. In lots of places if an animal is abandoned it will simply die due to extreme heat, cold, or inability to find food / water, or natural predators. In California it has a chance of living... there are parks I can go to at night or in the morning which have 20-30 bunnies, peaking at 100 during spring or summer. Urban development has driven out all the bunnies natural predators, so they just keep breeding and breeding in the wild. Hence there are lots of bunnies without homes.

Not as many guineas, I've never seen a guinea pig in the wild, and I've seen pleanty of bunnies.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

I don't agree and I hate to think of more people abandoning their rabbits outdoors in CA because of what you say. It is illegal for one, and they DO NOT survive. The elements, predators, illness, etc. do get them here just as much if not more than anywhere else. They get run over by cars too.

Domestic and wild rabbits are two very different breeds.

If they don't then humans do. People get annoyed when they see them running loose in the streets, in their parks, at their businesses, or schools. A local rabbit rescue took in 40 bunnies from a water facility. Someone dumped them there and they bred. The company wanted to gas them all to get rid of them.

There is one college here where people routinely dump their rabbits and gps. The campus poisons them when they get out of control population wise.

CA is extremely overpopulated and shelters are always overflowing. There are quite a few pet mills here, lots of pet stores and careless people.

[DaCourt]

I guess maybe people THINK they will survive outside on their own because this is sunny California. THey forget, that our nights can get pretty cold. Also, we have other dangers...bob cats, mountain lions, coyotes. We have warnings all over the place for people to bring their animals in at night.

Things are not all sunshine and roses here for abandoned animals.

[Access]

I hate it too, just got a little confused, I thought he was asking mostly about homeless bunnies (ie. bunnies with no homes = wild).

And I do recognize that even here, 99% of the time a dumped pet will die in short order. But sometimes like the case you cited, they will live and breed to massive numbers. These are bunnies we are talking about. If I dump a pet in Arizona during the summer months or in Alaska during the winter, no matter what that pet will not survive even a short time. If even 1% of the dumped pets somehow manage to survive and breed, it's a big problem.

[zambonigirl]

I have a few ideas, but there's just no way that I could post them and not sound superior, overly critical, and cynical.

I will say this, though: guinea pigs and rabbits probably seem very disposable to someone who doesn't want to make a committment.

I think they're worth it. I'd take in more if I had the room.

[CavySpirit]

I think you all are overlooking a very big reason why it APPEARS that California has a disproportionate number of homeless guinea pigs.

We are CALIFORNIANS. There is some validity to the stereotype. We tend to be more progressive as far as technology and liberalism and activism goes. There are still a lot of high-tech jobs and high-tech people out here--especially including myself and my fosterers and most of the Californians I know.

As most of you can appreciate, it just takes effort and dedication for one voice to be heard. I've managed to leverage technology as much as possible to make that happen. When a lot of those voices are out here, it SEEMS like all the animals are out here.

Ca has a few progressive people in a few progressive shelters.

We probably have a higher proportion of vegetarians and animal rights people in Ca. You'd think that would make things better for the homeless, but when it comes to the general population, it's still overwhelming. However, I think more of our voices and actions get heard.

I'm guessing that if I and few people moved to say, Florida, you'd be hearing a lot more about Florida pet stores, Florida breeders, Florida homeless pigs, etc. Trust me, I know they are there. Pick any state.

[DaCourt]

It's also very said that when you get a pet store that is will to take a stand, and not sell animals, that they can't get anyone to listen to them. I was talking to one of the manager at Centinela Feed and Pet Supply. She told me that she went up to a customer who was looking at the GP supplies and gave her one of our care sheets. The customer asked her if that had any of the really good food, with the nuts and seeds in it. She told her no, and showed her the bag of Cavy Cuisine and told her it wa the best. The customer told her, well, the guy at Petco told me the otehr stuff was better, and since they sell GP's he must know better.

People make me sad.