Please help the Guinea Pigs at Jimmy's Farm, UK

[i-love-nev]

Originally Posted by thalestral

So the guinea pigs are no longer outside then? They are no longer there purely for entertainment?

Because if not, I think you'll find many people will continue to sign the petition. The farm also now has a ferret world and a rabbit world for entertainment. Wonderful :/

Ferret world just disgusts me! they dont know if any are neutered! they dont know whos a boy and whos a girl! and the enclosure is just dangerous! they were talking of putting this log bridge in that a little ferrets feet could get stuck in and then obviously the ferrets would panic pull as hard as it can then 'OUCH' his/her leg is broken! what? does it take to show people the big picture?

[thalestral]

Originally Posted by chickenman

I have pointed out who I am and my connection to the farm on another forum , I have nothing to hide, I am not a secret government agent or something. Just thought that a bit of common sense approach rather than starting a 'protest' might be more constructive. I obviously have differing views with some here concerning certain 'animal rights' issues, however I do care that animals don't suffer and that must be something we could agree on perhaps?

I'm not a member of all the guinea pig forums in the world

However a protest is usually the most efficient way of bringing the matter to public attention, especially when a public service broadcaster like the BBC is involved. Animal rights though has very little to do with people's protests here, it is solely an animal welfare matter and guinea pigs living outside in an insecure environment isn't acceptable.

There is after all no harm a protest can do yet you seem to be discouraging people from getting in touch with both the BBC and the company.

[chickenman]

I'm not a member of all the guinea pig forums in the world
point taken...I just found the ones refering to the petition through google

However a protest is usually the most efficient way of bringing the matter to public attention, especially when a public service broadcaster like the BBC is involved.yes an no here , they can be bloody stubborn and just ignore what they don't like and do this frequently Animal rights though has very little to do with people's protests here, it is solely an animal welfare matter and guinea pigs living outside in an insecure environment isn't acceptable.I agree a welfare matter not a reason to suggest physical damage to people as has come up elsewhere already.

There is after all no harm a protest can do yet you seem to be discouraging people from getting in touch with both the BBC and the company. Again no problem with that its just I've seen how far these 'protests 'can snowball into something more 'nasty' and was worried about the mentioning of the petition on certain websites....I'll leave it at that.

[muffin]

Anyone contacting the BBC directly to complain might want to mention the poor care advocated in the 'Eastenders' soap. A guinea pig turned up regularly for a while, first of all as an impulse-buy replacement for a pet hamster (which died), and when the guinea pig was ill it was not taken to the vet, and also the suggestion that it safely made its way out of its open cage on the kitchen table and onto the floor. That's the only episodes I saw, but there are bound to have been more. Also, the two pet mice bought and released in Ian's Cafe by someone from the Queen Vic pub as a way of scaring the public out.

I'm not impressed at all lately with the BBC for this. They don't seem to realise that people watching the way these animals are treated will think it is ok. It's a totally unneccessary plot line and irresponsible too.

[Maisiepaisie]

I agree Muffin. I complained to ITV a few years ago about the storyline in Coronation Street with Sophie's guinea pig. They weren't interested and said something along the lines of "The storyline is not meant to be educational. It is for entertainment" They always seem to do the right thing when it comes to treatment of humans. I still think its worth complaining though. The more people complain, the better chance of getting them to listen. I don't watch soaps anymore so haven't seen the Eastenders storyline.

[FoolOnTheHill]

I think it'd be good if a member of the forum checked the place out, but I don't know if anyone is nearby. The area definately needs some kind of protection; I'm surprised Mr Fox hasn't been around yet...
Chickenman, how do you know all this about the looseboxes etc? In your first post you sounded very defensive of the farm too, as if you maybe are connected with it.

I don't think Jimmy's Farm needed this 'attraction' at all. I can't believe that, after the initial opening, many people will be attracted to the farm because there's guinea pigs there. If anything, the amount of people visiting the farm could have been put to great use by them promoting good gp care.

[Maisiepaisie]

I would be very surprised if Chickenman didn't have any vested interest in the farm.

[daftscotslass]

An update cross-posted to GL...

Here's a somewhat succinct version of what the latest visit by acquaintances of the person who started the petition brought to light. I am passing on this information - I have not seen any of this for myself. This visit was at the weekend.

1) For the entire enclosure there were two water bottles and the same of food bowls immediately apparent.

2) The pigs had a small hay rack with next to no hay in it.

3) Guinea pigs are still handled by members of the public (though a member of staff was in attendance) - while there the visitors witnessed a child drop a pig from waist height. Luckily the pig walked away. The member of staff stated that the reason for children no longer being allowed to handle the animals "unsupervised" was that a child had pulled the leg of one of the animals and broken it.

4) As has been one of the major concerns, there is no protection from aerial predators.

5) The member of staff in the enclosure stated when asked by one of the members of the public handling the pig if a fox could get in, the response was that no fox had got them yet (I suppose that makes it okay then? Uh huh...).

6) In the same conversation the above member of staff told visitors that they'd "lost a few to mites in the winter".

All in all I am told the pigs looked healthy but the above certainly means many of the legal "needs" that animals have while in the care of humans are not being met.

[daftscotslass]

With permission of the person who took the photos, these are an indication of the points above. All are self explanatory, you can see the dropped pig cowering under the buggy in the last picture OUTSIDE of the enclosure.

[wickedrodent]

Thats horrid, and something needs to be done. Is this a television show? Im very confused, but if it is, maybe we can write to the station and tell them how they are influencing the public by showing this.

Do you know if the injured pig got any attention at all? It looks like he was about to be run over in the last picture.

What they really need to do is make a show of behind the scenes of small animal breeding and the horrible thing that are done to them, how many are killed, etc.

[FoolOnTheHill]

'Jimmy's Farm' is a farm that breeds Essex pigs. It also has chickens, cows, nature trail, etc and is open to the public. The farm's progress has been/still is filmed for TV.

Those houses look filthy, as does the water bottle. They certainly can't provide much protection from heat or the cold. I hope that piggy is okay
Maybe if lots of people wrote to the BBC they might take note?

What do you say to those photos Chickenman?

[envisionary333]

Originally Posted by VoodooJoint

This drama in the guinea pig village was filmed a year ago and the guinea pig died because a member of the public's dog was not on a lead. There are clear signs in the nature trail that all dogs must be on leads.

This statement really struck me because it blames the owners of the dogs as the cause of the guinea pig's death, rather than the guinea pig's insecure enclosure. What if it had been a fox, or a bird, or a stray cat?