Adopting from a breeder?

[zoenanai]

I am always browsing CL and animal adoption sites and local papers and stuff because I REALLY want a long hair piggie to add to the two boys I have now (convincing my hubby to let me have another is gonna be fun!). I came across this breeder who "no longer needs" some of her boars and is adopting them out. I feel so bad for these guys...no longer needed, so given away. They are all between 7-12 months old. Other than the normal things to look out for as far as health, is there anything else I should maybe pay attn to before adopting? Thanks.

 

[pinky]

I wouldn't buy a guinea pig from her. It'll give her the excuse to breed more of them. I'd check out Petfinder and rescues and shelters in your area to find a guinea pig that needs a home.

 

[doganddisc]

I "adopted" my peruvian boy from a breeder. He was not something she wanted to breed into her lines (too faded in color). Otherwise he was in perfect health and has been very happy living with me. Whether I perpetuated a long cycle of abuse and misery is up for debate- I would much rather buy from a reputable breeder who is trying to better the breed than purchase from a pet store. Just my humble opinion.

However, if you look at the person's breeding practices and don't agree with them, do not buy a guinea pig from them. If you exchange money for the guinea pig, you are supporting their practices. If you take an animal from them so they have room for others, you are still supporting their practices. I have absolutely nothing against what I deem to be a responsible breeder and I was therefore okay with getting a guinea pig from one. But I would never have made the same decision if I thought her pigs were not well cared for and loved.

 

[zoenanai]

She has four kids and supposedly these piggies are handled/played with often and taken care of health-wise. There are no guinea pig rescues around me or in the entire state of WV, at least according to the internet, nothing in the animal shelters nearby nor within 250 miles of me on CL or petfinder for what I'm looking for. I don't mind adopting from a breeder who is simply getting rid of her breeder boars. She's a show breeder, I think. Not sure what all the opinions are on that, but her piggies seem to be very well taken care of. Still have to get the hubby to say yes, though. We'll see...

 

[foggycreekcavy]

You don't "adopt" from a breeder. She is culling her stock, and selling the ones she doesn't need anymore. In essence, discarding them.

I'm sure there are people on craigslist legitimately trying to re-home their guinea pigs because of things like allergies, kids losing interest, moving, etc. Why not rescue one of those ones? As Pinky says, this breeder is going to continue breeding, and you're making it easy for her.

 

[mufasa]

While it's good that the breeder is rehoming what she doesn't want instead of dumping them anywhere, she's still a breed and you're still supporting her by adopting from her. It's a shame you're not near any rescues and can't find anything on Craigslist because those sources provide piggies who got stuck in a bad situation through no fault of their own vs. a breeder purposefully creating the situation of having excess pigs.

 

[M.and.F.Piggies]

You don't "adopt" from a breeder. She is culling her stock, and selling the ones she doesn't need anymore. In essence, discarding them.

I'm sure there are people on craigslist legitimately trying to re-home their guinea pigs because of things like allergies, kids losing interest, moving, etc. Why not rescue one of those ones? As Pinky says, this breeder is going to continue breeding, and you're making it easy for her.

Ah foggycreekcavy, my head agrees with you completely, there just is NO good reason for breeding, but my heart always goes and lets me down. No one wants to encourage breeders, or make it easier for them to keep doing it, but if they had a conscience they wouldn't be breeders, and I can't help thinking, what if by not taking these piggies, you are condemning them to being culled LITERALLY?? That's heart logic, that is, and why my home is filled with 1 eyed horses, 3 legged dogs, and cats with no tails, I always end up with the ones with problems that no one in their right mind would have!! Dammed heart of mine is just sooooo good at logical argument.

 

[pinky]

What I would do is contact the nearest guinea pig rescue and all the shelters within a 300 mile radius and ask for assistance in finding available long haired guinea pigs in your area. Shelters often have sources for available animals that could include vets or smaller rescues that might be under the radar. Larger rescues often have a transport network that will get a guinea pig closer to you. After all, what they're looking for is a good home for their available animals. Keep in mind that the long haired guinea pigs are a LOT of work. Bedding and droppings can get tangled in their fur and their back end can sop up urine. They need much more grooming and trimming to keep them neat and tidy. I adopted two texels off of craigslist. The owner insisted they go to someone who would keep them on fleece and that they had a lot of experience with guinea pigs. They're really pretty girls but even much more work than I ever anticipated. I've found one of the biggest issues is that when they need bathing, the drying time is a lot longer than I expected. And you can't let them air dry because they remain damp for a long time which is unhealthy for them.

 

[pinky]

Ah foggycreekcavy, my head agrees with you completely, there just is NO good reason for breeding, but my heart always goes and lets me down. No one wants to encourage breeders, or make it easier for them to keep doing it, but if they had a conscience they wouldn't be breeders, and I can't help thinking, what if by not taking these piggies, you are condemning them to being culled LITERALLY?? That's heart logic, that is, and why my home is filled with 1 eyed horses, 3 legged dogs, and cats with no tails, I always end up with the ones with problems that no one in their right mind would have!! Dammed heart of mine is just sooooo good at logical argument.

Using that logic, there are guinea pigs that are being euthanized every day at shelters all over the country. We don't know whether this breeder is killing her unwanted male guinea pigs she's trying to sell off but guinea pigs are positively being killed at kill shelters every day.

 

[M.and.F.Piggies]

Using that logic, there are guinea pigs that are being euthanized every day at shelters all over the country. We don't know whether this breeder is killing her unwanted male guinea pigs she's trying to sell off but guinea pigs are positively being killed at kill shelters every day.

Omg, you mean that even if this person was stopping breeding and gave all her pigs to a shelter they might be killed anyway!! maybe I'm taking you up wrongly, I'm not sure. most shelters/rescues here have a no kill policy, (except for the council ones), and now there are some of our rescues who go around the busiest council pounds and take as many of the animals that are there as they can, and distribute them through out the rescues in the rest of the country.

 

[mufasa]

Alas, kill shelters are the norm in the U.S. (and way more so in Florida than in Illinois...shocked me when I moved because I rescue the occasional stray cat or dog and used to have no-kills I could take them to in IL...not so much here). One shelter nearby holds animals for only three days. The no-kill ones have to limit the number of animals they take in, which means there's often no room so animals, including piggies, end up at open-door-policy (i.e. kill) shelters where they have to constantly make room for the influx via euthanasia.

 

[charliespet]

I don't know, to me, the pigs are still abandoned. It seems that if you DON"T adopt them, they may end up in a careless home, or worse with another breeder, or even worse, at a kill shelter. You can't control the lady from choosing to breed, you can try to educate her, and take the pigs. My feelings are conflicting, because how do you stop a breeder/pet store without abandoning the precious babies that they sell? Its almost a no win situation. Obviously this woman is going to continue breeding, because it's what she does. If you don't take the pigs, who will? Such is the world of guinea pigs. Almost every GP each of us own came from a breeder at some point, then through a shelter or a re home.

I am thinking since you have checked out adoptions and re-homing and found nothing, that there are 2 pigs who need a home, and to me, that makes the decision easy.

 

[M.and.F.Piggies]

Alas, kill shelters are the norm in the U.S. (and way more so in Florida than in Illinois...shocked me when I moved because I rescue the occasional stray cat or dog and used to have no-kills I could take them to in IL...not so much here). One shelter nearby holds animals for only three days. The no-kill ones have to limit the number of animals they take in, which means there's often no room so animals, including piggies, end up at open-door-policy (i.e. kill) shelters where they have to constantly make room for the influx via euthanasia.

I truly did NOT know this. I'm very sorry, I did not intend to detract from what foggycreekcavy had said in her post, or to anger pinky by sounding like I was. I was simply ignorant of the way this system worked in the USA. Once again I apologize if it accidentally sounded like I was saying that foggycreekcavy's point of view was heartless, that was not my intention either. I was simply saying that I can't now, and never have been able to stop that little voice in my head that says these things, even when all sensible reasoning is against an idea, that little voice says "but" or "what if". It really was meant to be a very personal statement about how torn I would be in this case.

 

[bpatters]

Ah foggycreekcavy, my head agrees with you completely, there just is NO good reason for breeding, but my heart always goes and lets me down. No one wants to encourage breeders, or make it easier for them to keep doing it, but if they had a conscience they wouldn't be breeders, and I can't help thinking, what if by not taking these piggies, you are condemning them to being culled LITERALLY??

I don't know, to me, the pigs are still abandoned. It seems that if you DON"T adopt them, they may end up in a careless home, or worse with another breeder, or even worse, at a kill shelter.

What you are doing, @M.and.F.Piggies and @charliespet, is condemning all the other pigs coming out of the breeding mill to substandard housing, no medical care, and back-to-back breeding. For every pig you "rescue" from a breeder, you create a space for another one to take its place, and cause another sow to have to give birth to replace it. The only way to stop breeding mills is to make it impossible for them to make money at it, and by cooperating with them by taking the pigs they don't want, you just help perpetuate the cycle. If nobody took their pigs, they'd stop breeding.

 

[charliespet]

What you are doing, @M.and.F.Piggies and @charliespet , is condemning all the other pigs coming out of the breeding mill to substandard housing, no medical care, and back-to-back breeding. For every pig you "rescue" from a breeder, you create a space for another one to take its place, and cause another sow to have to give birth to replace it. The only way to stop breeding mills is to make it impossible for them to make money at it, and by cooperating with them by taking the pigs they don't want, you just help perpetuate the cycle. If nobody took their pigs, they'd stop breeding.

Hmmm. Yeah I can see what you are saying, but isn't it true that breeders will get rid of the pigs anyway? I guess in this individual situation that was what I was thinking. I don't know, maybe its better to just completely commit to never getting a pig from a breeder. I have a feeling a true breeder doesn't care how they get rid of the unwanted ones, sort of like they wouldn't let a less than perfect pig stop them from breeding the ultimate prize winner. I don't doubt this woman will drop them off at a shelter not caring if they get killed or not if no one takes them.

Perhaps it would be better to call the shelters in the area and have them call if the pigs are dropped off. That way she isn't buying from the breeder or deliberatly making space for more pigs in a breeders hands, but also protecting these two paticular pigs from the shelter.

 

[pinky]

To simplify it, if you patronize a business, that business will thrive and probably increase production of their product. If you don't, they no longer make a profit and will more than likely go out of business. You allow the business to continue if you buy from them. As far as guinea pigs in a kill shelter, my point was that they are the ones that need to be rescued. Save a life, don't support a breeder.

 

[pinky]

I don't know, to me, the pigs are still abandoned. It seems that if you DON"T adopt them, they may end up in a careless home, or worse with another breeder, or even worse, at a kill shelter. You can't control the lady from choosing to breed, you can try to educate her, and take the pigs. My feelings are conflicting, because how do you stop a breeder/pet store without abandoning the precious babies that they sell? Its almost a no win situation. Obviously this woman is going to continue breeding, because it's what she does. If you don't take the pigs, who will? Such is the world of guinea pigs. Almost every GP each of us own came from a breeder at some point, then through a shelter or a re home.

I am thinking since you have checked out adoptions and re-homing and found nothing, that there are 2 pigs who need a home, and to me, that makes the decision easy.

You can definitely influence whether or not she breeds more by not buying the ones she's trying to sell to make room for more.

 

[SeeSpotSit]

If nobody took their pigs, they'd stop breeding.

Wouldn't it be great if this were real life? I respectfully disagree. I believe that the people out there to make a buck by breeding, housing their pigs in awful conditions, mills etc...Could not care less if someone actually takes the pig they don't want. A mill doesn't NEED room for more pigs...THAT'S the problem! They don't care about space. Unfortunately, I believe many people in the business of breeding mass quantities of any animal will have very little regret killing the ones that are less than satisfactory.

I do not agree that rescuing a pig from a breeder is in any way equal to rescuing one from a rescue organization or a shelter. However, if you do not PAY the breeder to take one of their pigs off of their hands, in my opinion, that pig would have cost the breeder more down the line (than it was worth) and may not have seen many more birthdays because of it.

My 2 cents are completely divided...breeding pigs is wrong (health and over population) but I still believe that showing animals will be a way of life for our culture for decades to come as it has been for decades past. Unfortunately, some animals are put in awful situations and made into baby factories, some are killed for less than acceptable standards or when they're not useful...OR we as animal lovers can fight to see these animals live out their lives with loving wonderful people who don't care that their coloring is not perfect, if they can earn blue ribbons, or if they can or can't produce offspring.

Think of this - the dog racing industry KILLS thousands of dogs every year because they're not fast enough or able to make the track money. Are you telling me, that by rescuing a greyhound at the end of it's racing/breeding career that you are perpetuating the racing industry? NO, you're keeping that dog from dying! Plain and simple. Racing will happen and killing will happen regardless if that dog finds a loving home to live out it's senior years.

 

[pinky]

Wouldn't it be great if this were real life? I respectfully disagree. I believe that the people out there to make a buck by breeding, housing their pigs in awful conditions, mills etc...Could not care less if someone actually takes the pig they don't want. A mill doesn't NEED room for more pigs...THAT'S the problem! They don't care about space. Unfortunately, I believe many people in the business of breeding mass quantities of any animal will have very little regret killing the ones that are less than satisfactory.

I do not agree that rescuing a pig from a breeder is in any way equal to rescuing one from a rescue organization or a shelter. However, if you do not PAY the breeder to take one of their pigs off of their hands, in my opinion, that pig would have cost the breeder more down the line (than it was worth) and may not have seen many more birthdays because of it.

My 2 cents are completely divided...breeding pigs is wrong (health and over population) but I still believe that showing animals will be a way of life for our culture for decades to come as it has been for decades past. Unfortunately, some animals are put in awful situations and made into baby factories, some are killed for less than acceptable standards or when they're not useful...OR we as animal lovers can fight to see these animals live out their lives with loving wonderful people who don't care that their coloring is not perfect, if they can earn blue ribbons, or if they can or can't produce offspring.

Think of this - the dog racing industry KILLS thousands of dogs every year because they're not fast enough or able to make the track money. Are you telling me, that by rescuing a greyhound at the end of it's racing/breeding career that you are perpetuating the racing industry? NO, you're keeping that dog from dying! Plain and simple. Racing will happen and killing will happen regardless if that dog finds a loving home to live out it's senior years.

I think the dog racing industry is a dying breed in itself. WI used to have the second largest number of dog racing tracks next to FLA. A couple of years back, Wisconsin's last dog racing track closed, due to loss in profits. I recall when greyhounds were listed on numerous rescue sites to find them suitable homes. I knew someone here in IL who adopted one of them. And, sure, if the Dept of Agriculture comes along and shuts down a pet mill and distributes those animals to rescues, you are doing a service to those animals by taking them in. It's a different story to buy a breeder guinea pig from someone who hasn't been able to sell it up to this point and hopes to breed more that will sell quicker. You're helping them to continue their breeding business.

 

[mufasa]

To simplify it, if you patronize a business, that business will thrive and probably increase production of their product. If you don't, they no longer make a profit and will more than likely go out of business. You allow the business to continue if you buy from them. As far as guinea pigs in a kill shelter, my point was that they are the ones that need to be rescued. Save a life, don't support a breeder.

I think this goes for no-kill shelters, too. The place I got Leela from is striving to become no-kill and is supposedly at 90 percent. But they have a very, very small room for pocket pets, which piggies share with rabbits and birds. It was probably at capacity before Leela and her companion were adopted out, and they were there for a well over a month, so that potentially means no other pigs or rabbits could be taken in during that time. When you adopt from a no-kill shelter or rescue, you open another slot for a pig so it doesn't have to go to a kill shelter that always has room.