Frustrated Friend's Guinea Pig......

[Gforcepiggies]

My friend has three children.
She was given a guinea pig to "watch" about two years ago. Although I doubt the people will ever come back for him. A year ago, i discovered Sophie was a boy. My friend, Leanna, insisted was wrong. But I have two boy pigs, you would think I would know what that area looks like.
Today, I was over helping her with a sewing project for her son's upcoming school play. I heard the Guinea pig wheeking, and found that he lives in a TUB, doesn't have hay, and only eats these disgusting dry pellets. His "cage" i filthy, and his nails are way too long, and to make matters worse, he doesn't seem to even know what lettuce is.
What can I do to help him? I asked my landlord but he said I was overdue on my pet amount. I want to help this little fella have a better life!

 

[Lord Pigwidgeon]

Have you tried talking to your friend about it? Explain how it's unsanitary, unhealthy, and cruel to do that to an animal? Maybe she doesn't realize how terrible it is for them to live in those conditions.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

I'd direct your friend to this forum, in a positive way so as they don't become defensive and refuse. Maybe "I found this great site where you can put pictures of Sophie in competitions, she's so cute I bet she'd win" or something along those lines. Then they'll find the information themselves.

 

[Gforcepiggies]

I've tried many times. Her religion states that she is the top dog and everything else is lower than she is, therefore she is entitled to make the animals live in whatever conditions she chooses. Sh also has a rabbit for each of her kids, who live each in every small cages. Her dog lives in a pen and has very little human contact.
I wish I could change her mind. Maybe next time I will try to get her to help Sven out.
She doesn't like forums because she thinks they will invade her privacy and take her information.

 

[maddy harper]

awww, thats so sad....
hope your landlord lets you take him in
mine go mental at the lettis bag being carryed in the house with out it being opened... they will both start wheeking, its funny...

 

[labgirl5]

How old are her kids? If they're old enough you could try to get them to research information, or print out a kid-friendly guinea pig info sheet full of cute pictures and such.

 

[Lord Pigwidgeon]

What sort of religion is it? I've never heard of one that promotes them treating animals like that... :-/ top dog or not, religion is about love, not rank. Eh. Anyway. If she won't listen to reason, I personally would call someone that deals with animal cruelty. I know she's your friend, but the thing about those animals is that they can't control how someone decides to treat them. They're stuck with whoever wants to be nice, or whoever wants to be cruel. It's not fair to the animals to be with a human that won't treat them the way they deserve to be treated. Maybe it's not severe enough neglect to call someone, so maybe that's not an option.

Otherwise, I'd ask my friend if she wouldn't mind if I cared for the guinea pig or not. I'd get the cage, but keep it at her house. I'd feed him the right foods, get the right toys, trim his nails...things like that. But keep him at her house. Maybe she won't even allow that. You could find another friend that could take him for you guys, one that will take the time to get information. Or just have a secret piggy in your place that your landlord doesn't know about. ^-^

 

[Gforcepiggies]

She's a very hardcore Christian, and that is how she believes. Her kids are six, three and seven months.
I just asked her today if she wouldn't mind me "pigsitting" him for a week, and she says that would be fine......Now I just have to convince my landlord into letting him in for a week. I'm hoping that I will just get to keep him, and that Leanna won't ask for him back. I checked him out earlier, long claws, hair loss on his paws, long burrs...... and very dry and dirty hair.
I'm thinking that if I can have him for a week, I can have a chance to get him upped on his VIT C, get some hay in him, which he doesn't ever have, and clip his claws and give him a bath. If I get approved, I am going to split my 2x6 in half and keep him on one side and D and J on the other. Then after he clears up, I will try to introduce them. I know it's a small space for them, but at least I can help him. Then, once they are introduced, I will clean the cage and put them all together.

 

[Gforcepiggies]

Thanks! @ThePigAlchemist ! I am hoping this will work out!

 

[pinky]

What's a hardcore Christian? I've never heard of a religion that states they're the top dog and everyone else is lower than them. Maybe that's just the way she is and it has nothing to do with her religion.

 

[Gforcepiggies]

She's just very into her religion. I asked her why she thinks that animals are lower and she says that's how she and her husband believe.

 

[CritterSlave]

Yeah animal neglect is not a facet of any Christian denomination.

 

[pinky]

Humans are the top predators and most intelligent members of the Animal Kingdom so that might be what she meant. If she uses her religion as a reason to neglect her pets, she's not a good Christian because there's no basis for that in Christianity..... A lot of people don't understand the needs of guinea pigs. You should give her some simple information about guinea pig diet and care. You can also show her how to clip nails. When I had my first guinea pigs, I didn't realize they needed hay. It wasn't until a repairman come to my house (whose wife was involved with a rescue) that I found out they needed hay when he told me. Don't get pushy with her or be condescending. Try and be pleasant and helpful. Sometimes if you push an issue too hard with someone, they resist more and become resentful.

 

[Power Piggies]

I'm sorry this is insane. Are any of the animals bad enough you can rwport her anonymously? They should not have to live like that!

 

[HappyPiggies14]

Yeah animal neglect is not a facet of any Christian denomination.

Agreed... I'm a Christian... And that's not a thing....

 

[Gforcepiggies]

Well, she seems to believe so. I cannot report her because her pets are still all ok. I've tried, @pinky to give her info, but she just pushes it away. She says "oh no, he's fine", or "I know". Ugh.

 

[blessedmom]

Being that I am a Hardcore Christian (I love my Jesus to the core!) I'm sad that she would represent her faith in that way. A Christian is a follower of Christ and should live, love and think like Jesus.

I'm assuming she's referring to the fact that God gave man dominion over all animals, which is true. But in that comes great responsibility. I may have the dominion over my child but that doesn't give me the right to abuse her! We do NOT have a pass to mistreat animals! In fact, the Bible commands us to take care of the animals under our care. One of the signs of a righteous man, is that he takes care of his animals: "The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel" (Proverbs 12:10). Even the animal of an enemy was to be treated kindly: "If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again." (Exodus 23:4). One reason God commanded His people to rest one day out of seven was so their animals would be refreshed: "Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest........."(Exodus 23:12).

In fact, the Bible says we must never treat any part of God’s creation with contempt. When we do, we are indirectly treating our Creator with contempt. Instead, God calls us to be stewards or trustees of His creation, and the Bible reminds us that we are responsible to Him for the way we treat it. We’ve often forgotten this — but it’s still true, and when we ignore it we not only hurt God’s creation but we also hurt ourselves.

Your friend is likely afraid of forums like these because we as Christians do believe killing animals to make food and clothing is ok (I personally don't eat meat though) and animal rights activists usually teach that animals should have the same rights as humans:
"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs." (Genesis 9:3). God actually used animal skin to cloth Adam and Eve after the whole forbidden fruit thing. Darn that Adam and Eve ;-)

I realize this can be a touchy topic so I hope my efforts to be respectful of other viewpoints is evident as I truly enjoy this forum and my GPiggies benefit greatly from it so I hope to stay friendly with all

 

[Gforcepiggies]

Thank you, @blessedmom for explaining.
I ended up seeing her yesterday and talking her into it. I now him in my house with me. Today I will show some pictures of him and where he had been living. I don't know if I will give him back.
I have read the Bible and I have seen those sections. That's why I found it funny that she treats her animals so poorly.

 

[spudsthepiget]

Thanks for getting that poor pig out of there. I'll bet he's loving it already.

I know how frustrating it can be when it comes to friends that don't treat their pets well; I used to be friends with a person that kept all 3 of her pigs separate and only fed them carrots and pellets with nuts and seeds. She ignored all the links that I sent her and I could never convince her that guinea pigs need more care than that. I had a fight with her over something else and haven't talked to her since; I just hope she wised up and took better care of them, but something tells me not.

 

[Gforcepiggies]

He is loving it, totally pigging out. He popcorned for the first time this morning, and licks and grooms Darwynn and Juarez. I guess now I do have the G Force Piggies, Dawynn, Juarez, and Sven!!!!!
That's what she fed him- Dry, yucky pellets and carrots. That's all Sven ate. He's eating hay at the moment and cuddling with his new brothers. I have to get some oranges today to cure the scurvy. He is a beautiful little fellow and very nice. He gives me licks and loves to talk to me. I've never had a pig with such lovable spirits. I guess that's the difference between rescue pigs and pet store pigs.