I dont even know where to begin with this person...

[ortal]

I am at a loss for words.

male about 1 year old. brown and white. very friendly needs new home. i am having my 2nd baby and dont want the resposibility of caring for him. great with other animals and kids. my 2 year old carries him around the house. Free to good home only.

poor thing.

[piggly wiggly]

Wow, that is just, wow. How can anyone allow a 2yr old to carry him around the house? That is unreal.

[Biscuit]

just mail birth control in my opinion

[ortal]

My daughter is 3, very gentil and kind, and she is not allowed even sit w a piggie in her lap. Just pet. I am SO careful, she learned to give "quiet kisses" as to not startle them. I cannot even imagine letting her carry one.

[mommyoffive]

Oh gosh, a 2 year old, I wonder how many times that poor piggie has been dropped.

[Toadies]

At the risk of sounding like a card carrying, capital letter WITCH, I think a lobotomy would be an increase in intelligence.

[MCR_Rox]

Maybe you should post the link so we could spread it around to responsible people.

[pigsmakemesmile]

Dido to Biscuit

[ortal]

Free Guinea Pig to good home!!!

[pigsmakemesmile]

I tried to reply to the post but my putor isn't set up right for it but this is what they would have gotton:

" I find it appauling that your giving up your little cavy like a used piece of meat because it's cramping your lifestyle and to say you allow your 2 year old to carry it around like a toy, tells me you have no brain either! Poor pig would be better off in the care of an ADULT that appreciates Gods gifts. Next time try birth control....it's cheap"

I'm sorry it sounds brutal but people like that really tick me off....I need to vent.

[Alusdra]

Er... why so worked up about this particular ad? This is such a common tune to hear... nothing special about it. People are always having babies, developing "allergies" or "moving" and dumping their pets. Sure, she could be more careful with letting her child walk around the house with the pig. Sure she should have researched more and been committed before getting a pet. At least she's trying to find a good home for the pig, even if she isn't the most informed pig owner. Why chew her out about having a second child? There's nothing wrong with that. The average person in the US has 2+ kids. I'm sure everyone here has seen much worse ads, like "will sell for snake food!" or "comes with ball, leash, salt lick and VitC drops for the water!" or "I breed these guys and now I have too many- going cheap!" Pick your battles.

Ranting at her is just going to make her think you're an animal rights crazy. Maybe better would be to say, "Hey, I understand that pet stores probably lied to you about cavy care, here's a great website where you can get lots of info on guinea pigs and find a great home for your pet."

[kathrynj]

What parent allows a TWO YEAR OLD to walk around with a guinea pig?

It may be a 'common' occurance, but that doesn't make it any less wrong in my opinion. ?

[pigsmakemesmile]

your right alusdra, I shouldn't be so worked up but you want to know something, these are the type of excuses I hear too often and these are, more than often, the same people who when they don't find homes for their pets...bring them to the spca. If an animal is not found a home within a resonable amount of time...end up being euthanized. It's these people who put no thought of the responsibility it takes in pet ownership whether it be a large pet or something small. Animals may not be like people but because we choose to domesticate them and make them into pets and or pet slaves ,then we assume the responsibility of caring for them regardless.They have absolutely no say in what happens to them.

[pigsmakemesmile]

I've heard horror stories of how people treat their animals, On the local news, police are out looking for the person or persons, who SKINNED a dog and its puppy and left them on the side of the road. Another man who finally came forward admitted to shooting his 3 German shepherds, simply for the fact he couldn't find homes for them. How about the @$$ who dumped 7 cavies in a garbage bag at a dumpster or the @$$ who threw a box of 3 cavies out a window at an intersection, I can go on, and I'm suppose to have a little empathy for people who go out and get pets only to put an add in the paper.....looking for a home... simply because they found they didn't have the time to care for them, or got pregnant what ever the excuse, they should of thought of this before making the purchase. Currently I have: 2 kids, a dog, 3 rabbits, 5 pigs and work a full time job. In the past I've had several dogs who passed on, an Iguanna that lived 12 years under my care, fish, hamsters, ferrets, squirrels chickens and horses and working full time and with no help because these were my pets. If I felt I didn't have the time to care for them, I wouldn't have gotten them but thats because I took the time to consider the work involved. I do give this person credit for at least trying but tell me what you think the odds are of the pig finding a new home especially with the rescues, shelters, pet stores and adds of everyone trying to find a home for a guinea pig??

[Alusdra]

I'm not saying that this isn't a bad situation and that she couldn't have done better. It's obvious that there are a lot of things wrong about it. But in you post, pigsmakemesmile, you gave some good examples of people that need strong anger directed at them. Sickos that toss animals out of cars or in dumpsters or skin them alive deserve serious punishment and probably counseling. But a woman having her second child and realizing she made a mistake and took on more responsibility than she can handle? She's a symptom of a much larger problem of lack of education on care and a mindset that views pets (especially "pocket pets") as disposable. Yes, we hear this story all the time and it makes you want to lash out, but what good would that do? Trying to stay calm and educate so she doesn't get another pet once the baby is 1 year old then dump another pig is more productive. Maybe she'll be so grateful for the enlightenment she will spread the word herself. (One can always hope.) Implying that someone is "overly prolific" (I could use one of a variety of derogatory colloquialisms here) is uncalled for.

[pigsmakemesmile]

I also believe in education and "enlightenment" in the hopes of bettering the well being of small pets, however it's unfortunate that there's a large majority of people who simply aren't interested in seeking this information because of the assumptions that small pets are disposabe pets. And yes, I see adds like hers all the time, but what struck me most was her tone. I am very hard core that once you commit to getting a pet, it's yours until its dying day....I'm just tired of people who get pets and get rid of them once they have no use for them or have lost interest or simply just can't be bothered because of a new set of circumstances, they put their burdens on the rest of us. My 2 nephews had a pig they had for 2 years, Mom is single and raising the boys alone. She is in the middle of a move and no longer can keep the pig. She called me, I didn't want to say yes because I already had 4 male pigs myself and she told me hers was a female yet on the other hand, I would forever feel guilty and worry that the pig didn't make it to a good home. I took the pig in and lucky for me he, turned out to be a she, but I told the boys, that after they settled if they decided to get another guinea pig, to come and see me first that I would consider returning Popcorn to them and I would just be caring for it until they were settled in. They and I are happy with that agreement. If I felt the pig was abused or neglected, then I wouldn't have made that offer-I would just keep it. I do understand that there are situations that are out of ones control. I have arrangements for my pigs if I should pass on prematurely but that's because I am a responsible pet owner. I recognize the fact that she acknowledges not having the time because she's pregnant, but obviously then, she never really cared about the animal in the first place...the fact she let her 2 yr old carry it around the house says it all and is upsetting to me. I had 2 year olds, trust me, they are not capable of "CAREFULLY" carrying -let alone, holding a small pet without harming the poor creature. How much education does that require? It's ashame she's not educated...the worse thing one can do is offer the cavy free, these pets many times are sought after for food or for experimentation.

[Biscuit]

While I agree with you, I was defeated by your Wall of Text.

If you don't want the responsibility of caring for a guinea pig, how are you going to handle a second child? Overly prolific is perfectly called for.