"That's a delicacy in peru!"

I think it depends on who is making the joke. My family makes this joke all the time but none of them ever mean it seriously. Heck, my fiance and I have made this joke about our own piggies.

"Sorry Nina, you are the fattest, if we get stuck because of the storm we're eating you first." was said a few times in the middle of winter. Would we actually do it? Of course not!

some people yeah, they aren't kidding but when my family makes this joke I know none of us actually mean it.

I’m a vegetarian, so I’m used to the “mmm meat, tasty, tasty” from people trying to provoke me. And I’m fine with that, more or less. But when people tell me how tasty my boys would be? Not fine at all. I’ve tried having calm discussions about how referring to my pets as dinner, even as a joke, is insensitive. (No one has listened so far.) So just accept those people aren’t worth your mental stress and have a snuggle with your pigs!

I actually considered starting a thread like this a while ago because I was so fed up of people making comments about guinea pigs being food. I've had remarks like "whens the barbeque?" and "ohhh tasty, guinea pigs, yum" I know I'm a very sensitive person, but this just makes me soooo mad. My mum babysits this girl three days a week and her parents and I do not get on well.
Whenever they see me they say something that they know will annoy me like "ohhh its guinea pig girl" "did a piggle do a widdle on you today" making fun of me. To make it heaps worse the girl really want guinea pigs herself, shes crackers about guinea pigs, like me, and she can't have them. Her parents always say stuff to her like "if you get a guinea pig we will throw it into the fire" or "if you get a guinea pig we will drown it." they are soooo insensitive.
The worst thing about it is that I have to see them every time they pick up their daughter and they never miss a chance to say something rude or what they think is funny. I try and stay out of their way as much as possible. At least I know I'm not the only one.

It bugs me too. My family teases me about it..(siblings and parents) which Im okay with because of their personities they can do it. I get annoyed when other people do it, which they do. I know that people in Peru or Ecuador for example raise them for meat and are used to looking at guinea pigs and seeing it as a food source, I respect that. But you don't see me walking around my friends house looking at their turtles and cat saying "Yum.. Food." I just want people to have a bit more respect and realize that it is someones pet and some people might be more sensitive about it.

I relate so much. When I first got a guinea pig my dad made a remark when I was holding him and my dogs were laying at my feet. He said "You know what they are thinking?" "that would taste great with some ketchup." I chuckled because me and my dad are close, but I did tell him that asher is just as close to me as our dogs are and Im sensitive to those kinds of jokes. He apologized and ive never heard him say stuff like that again. I do hear it from other people though, when i talk to them about it they just find it humorous. It bugs me but you just gotta realize that thats how immature they are.

Sometimes me and my mom make jokes about eating Furrybottom because he's so big (part cuy I believe) but it's not offensive. Personally, I find it annoying when people make snake food jokes. Not very funny when you mentally picture your beloved pet morbidly being chewed, punctured, and swallowed by a reptile.

It's one thing for jokes from close people definitely, but another when someone you hardly know will make that as a comment. It's just insensitive, no one makes that kind of comment when you get a new dog. Oh you got a dog, cool, what kind! I never really get that reaction and it's just annoying. And that it's so many people who talk about it being food is really what bothers me. there will always be immature people but i feel like on this topic it's a lot of people...more than usual. Maybe we need to find a way to help people be more sensitive...grrr. thanks everyone for replying! piggie support group <3

This is just insensitive,stupid and uncalled for. My brother made a joke about my guinea pig Guss like this. Guss had flipped over his hut and was taking a nap when my brother walked in, picked up the hut pig and all, and said "mmm! we're having guinea pig tonight!" Guss didn't like this remark and bit him! Brendan put Him down and went away! Haha thats what you get! I wouldn't say "your laberdoodle sure looks tasty!" So why do you think it's okay to say that our pets look tasty?!

ThePigAlchemist said:

When I was volunteering at a shelter, I was holding a guinea pig once, and a lady came up to me and asked "Is that a pet or snake food?" Wow.

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I can't believe that...that's awful and so rude. i can't believe these stories. i'm glad we can all vent together!

When people tell me my pigs look delicious I take it as a compliment. Nobody would want to eat them if they weren't big and healthy! Plus, these comments are usually followed by the person saying how cute they are, too.

I guess it depends who it's from/how the comment is made but personally I have never been offended by anythinglike that. I too joke about it sometimes, for example I was watching Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown on Netflix the other week and he was in Peru and served Cuy. I has holding my guinea pig Pickle at the time and said oh no Pickle look away! It's a part of the culture there and it doesn't bother me, though I am also not vegan.

What DOES bother me is when someone says its ridiculous or wrong of me to pay for veterinary care for my guinea pigs. THAT gets under my skin.

Hmmm..I guess we have a sick sense of humor around my house cause we joke about this too. In fairness though, we joke about this across the board. My youngest nick name is Zombie Bait I wouldn't ever say that to someone I didn't know though.

I've stopped telling people I have guinea pigs / mice / rats / rabbit now after years of offensive insensitive comments & jokes. Hell, I don't even tell people I'm vegan because in the Australian BBQ culture I currently live in it often results in a verbal attack on my personal choices (note that I never ever provoke this & I'm forever mystified as to why complete strangers think it's ok to tell me I'm wrong/weird/ask me to justify my choice). My conclusion is most people are horrible - piggies are much nicer!

Bamysmum said:

I've stopped telling people I have guinea pigs / mice / rats / rabbit now after years of offensive insensitive comments & jokes. Hell, I don't even tell people I'm vegan because in the Australian BBQ culture I currently live in it often results in a verbal attack on my personal choices (note that I never ever provoke this & I'm forever mystified as to why complete strangers think it's ok to tell me I'm wrong/weird/ask me to justify my choice). My conclusion is most people are horrible - piggies are much nicer!

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I agree, people argue with me for being a vegetarian...i'll have to prepare myself for when i'm a vegan! When I ask a supermarket employee for almond milk or soymilk they ask if i'm lactose intolerant and direct me to lactaid. no...i'm not doing this bc i have to i'm doing this bc i want to!! guinea pigs are nicer than humans

These types of people you are going to have to learn to live with in life, and learn that they will not change.

I've learned to brush off these remarks or laugh about them. At the end of the day, I don't plan on eating my girls and no one else is going to so that's what's important.

My brother does that all the time. Whenever I go to feed Maple veggies he will be like "haven't you fattened her up enough" or "just eat her already" and other things like that. It makes me so angry.


@2198lindsey that is true because if anyone ever tried to eat one of piggies they would definitely get it!

Oh, they're just jokes. Lighten up! I've heard comments like that and never been offended. It's usually just from people who either don't know what to say and are trying to make small talk or are trying to be funny. I'm sure most of them don't mean to be offensive and personally wouldn't ever harm a pig. People are just oversensitive these days. Take it with a grain of salt and move on. If this is all you have to be offended about then consider yourself lucky.

What I really hate is when you're talking to someone about food animals, and they will say, "But they were bred for that!" Just because a human bred them to be killed, doesn't mean they enjoy it or deserve it in any way! This argument makes no sense whatsoever to me and often comes from my mother.

The pet vs. food debate is one of the many reasons I became vegetarian years ago. Why would we eat cows when we wouldn't eat our own cats or dogs? It doesn't make sense to me at all. Why do it when you don't need to?

One of my boars, Puffy, just narrowly escaped being dinner for his previous owner's neighbor. The lady was trying to rehome him, and her neighbor offered to take him. But, the neighbors boyfriend warned the lady that if she gave Puffy to the neighbor, she was going to fry him. "Oh my gosh, thank you!" said the owner, and then I came along and adopted him. But yikes, what a narrow escape!