My Mimi needs a new friend. I WANT TO ADOPT a new guinea pig, but there are no guinea pig shelters here in the Philippines.
I stumbled upon this thread when googling rescue shelters in our country. Unfortunately, there seems to be none. duchess_speaks from the thread was right, there is no actual organization concerned about rescuing pigs here. I realized that, indeed, adoption here in the Philippines could mean buying from re-sellers. That is, owners who can't take care of their pigs anymore don't put up their pigs for "adoption", but for "re-selling".
Ordinary pet stores here sell pigs for some Php250-450 (Php=Philippine Peso), which for a Filipino is very cheap. "Responsible" breeders (so they call themselves) sell pigs for Php1,000-3,000 (expensive for an average Filipino) and some claim they don't sell pigs to people unfamiliar or inexperienced with pigs. "Re-selling", as I've learned, ranges from Php500-7,000. Those who re-sell put their pigs for adoption with the price as the adoption fee (just my assumption). Some re-sellers include in the "package" the toys, cage, food, etc. of the pig. Re-sellers didn't breed the pigs; they bought them before (as, like I said, there's no sense of "adopting from a shelter/irresponsible owner" here just yet).*
Now my dilemma: Is it ethical to buy from these so-called re-sellers? I mean, look, owners here do not surrender their pigs to shelters; they re-sell them. For profit? Because they couldn't take care of them anymore and they want to re-home them? I don't know. My dilemma is, if I buy from these re-sellers, am I purchasing or am I adopting? I know that if I buy anyway I'd welcome them with open arms, love them, and do my best to take good care of them. But we all understand why this site and guinea pig lovers in general are anti-breeding and anti-buying/selling.
What do you think?
*In fact, even my babies were given to me as a gift, without the giver assuring herself that I can really handle guinea pigs. Thanks to this site, I learned the basics of pig keeping and learned to embrace it. I easily learned keeping pigs' interests at heart. Blame it on the pigs!
I stumbled upon this thread when googling rescue shelters in our country. Unfortunately, there seems to be none. duchess_speaks from the thread was right, there is no actual organization concerned about rescuing pigs here. I realized that, indeed, adoption here in the Philippines could mean buying from re-sellers. That is, owners who can't take care of their pigs anymore don't put up their pigs for "adoption", but for "re-selling".
Ordinary pet stores here sell pigs for some Php250-450 (Php=Philippine Peso), which for a Filipino is very cheap. "Responsible" breeders (so they call themselves) sell pigs for Php1,000-3,000 (expensive for an average Filipino) and some claim they don't sell pigs to people unfamiliar or inexperienced with pigs. "Re-selling", as I've learned, ranges from Php500-7,000. Those who re-sell put their pigs for adoption with the price as the adoption fee (just my assumption). Some re-sellers include in the "package" the toys, cage, food, etc. of the pig. Re-sellers didn't breed the pigs; they bought them before (as, like I said, there's no sense of "adopting from a shelter/irresponsible owner" here just yet).*
Now my dilemma: Is it ethical to buy from these so-called re-sellers? I mean, look, owners here do not surrender their pigs to shelters; they re-sell them. For profit? Because they couldn't take care of them anymore and they want to re-home them? I don't know. My dilemma is, if I buy from these re-sellers, am I purchasing or am I adopting? I know that if I buy anyway I'd welcome them with open arms, love them, and do my best to take good care of them. But we all understand why this site and guinea pig lovers in general are anti-breeding and anti-buying/selling.
What do you think?
*In fact, even my babies were given to me as a gift, without the giver assuring herself that I can really handle guinea pigs. Thanks to this site, I learned the basics of pig keeping and learned to embrace it. I easily learned keeping pigs' interests at heart. Blame it on the pigs!