Starting a Guinea Pig rescue in Louisiana

[KristenMatejka]

Alright, so recently I have started working with a rescue already here in Louisiana and they are very passionate about all kinds of animals but they mainly rescue dogs and cats. Recently by chance they had a guinea pig surrendered to them and they met me so now I have Peanut in my home as a new foster guinea pig.
It has been my dream to start or even help build a guinea pig rescue. All of the paperwork is done now so it feels "legit" and I just wanted to share the great news. My boyfriend and I have been looking for a home to buy and once we have our home we are going to finally have a room just for the pigs and it will finally feel like it's real for me.
I know it's going to be tough but I know it will be worth it. And I know a few people on here already have rescues. If anyone has any advice for me I would really appreciate it. I'm nervous but so ready and excited.

 

[Roxymarie365]

Congratulations! I've always wanted to help out a rescue by fostering GP! You're so lucky to get to have the experience (The people I live with won't let me have any more pigs, whether it's permenant or a foster). I hope everything goes well now that it's "Legit" :crackup:. Congrats!!!

 

[LightningPig1]

That is really great! Thank you for taking on this responsibility (That is, if it is legit, which it sounds like it!) I think it's wonderful that you'll be saving guinea pig lives and adopting them to good homes where they can be cared for properly Where in Louisiana do you think you'll be building?

 

[KristenMatejka]

Thanks guys! The rescue I am working with started in Gretna so we will have our part here in Slidell. It's not too far of a drive to lots of places.

 

[LightningPig1]

Wow! I go there a lot to visit family We live about an hour away, I used to live in New Orleans but moved to Mississippi.

 

[bpatters]

You'll need to line up a good exotic vet who won't charge you an arm and a leg for vet care, and who will teach you to do some of the treatments yourself.

You'll need more than one pig room, as you'll need to keep any fosters separate for the entire quarantine period, and if you have more than one foster family at a time, you'll need a separate place for each of them.

Keep good records on dates of admission, regular weights, treatments, etc. Document with pictures where possible.

Good luck! Thanks for doing this. You're not far from where most of my family lives (around Hattiesburg), and except for one exotic vet in Petal, there's not much in the way of exotic rescue anywhere around.

 

[KristenMatejka]

Yogi, the one that originally founded the whole rescue has been speaking with several vets and we have found one that has great experiance with guinea pigs and is willing to give a large discount for us.
I'm glad I am working with her because otherwise I would feel very overwhelmed. Speaking of weighing the pigs....my scale broke about a week ago. Does anyone know a great scale I can use?
I really do appreciate the advice. Of course, as for the guinea pig room that will be the main room. Fosters, during quarantime can be found seperate spots. I'm sure we will have to figure it out as we go. And we do already have five different sets of people willing to be foster parents if and when needed.

 

[bpatters]

Any scale that weighs up to about 5 pounds in both ounces and kilograms will do. A flatter weighing surface is easier to manage than a bowl.

 

[KristenMatejka]

Any ideas where to purchase one? I've been searching online for a while now and can't find any good ones

 

[bpatters]

Walmart has 74 of them online -- search for "kitchen scales" without the quotes.

Amazon has three pages of them. Search on "kitchen scales" without the quotes.

 

[pinky]

Vet bills are what can end up putting you over the edge. I agree that you need to have a vet lined up who will give you a break on services and access to things like Revolution that you might need to treat guinea pigs yourself. A few surgeries will quickly run into the thousands of dollars so make sure you have a reserve set aside for medical emergencies. Sometimes people who give up guinea pigs do so because they're ill so you might end up treating them when they first come in. You need to decide if you plan on being licensed in your state and if you'll seek non profit status. You'll need volunteers to help with cage cleaning, etc. if you house a large number of guinea pigs. You'll need to write up a contract that indicates what responsibilities you have and the person adopting has. You'll also need to keep track of the money from the adoption fees for income tax purposes.

 

[KristenMatejka]

The woman I am working with already has her rescue licensed in the state of Louisiana, guinea pigs included They are a non profit rescue and do recieve donations. All of that is not a concern. I actually am going to be taking my foster, Peanut to the vet on Monday at 9am to have a check up and it is free of charge. Yogi, the woman I spoke of previously knows most of the vets in the area quite well so I know all of the guinea pigs will be in good hands.
Money won't be an issue and as stated there are fosters already setup. And I doubt, unless I get more than 50, I will need help cleaning the cages. The current 11 I have aren't too hard to do.

 

[KristenMatejka]

We already have the adoption contracts and process set up, printed, and everything figured out.

 

[pinky]

We already have the adoption contracts and process set up, printed, and everything figured out.

Are you fostering or are you setting up your own rescue? Fosters' medical bills are normally paid for by the rescue, not the person fostering them. If you are a foster and your rescue is licensed, you can also be inspected by the state without notice. If you're setting up your own rescue, you will have to apply for non profit status. There's a big difference between fostering and running the rescue.

 

[KristenMatejka]

I already do know there is a big difference. Yogi and Arvella, will be coming over here to specify and make sure I am aware of everything I need to know. I am not concerned about any inspections. I am nervous but I am confident in my abilities. I understand your trying to be sure I understand everything that is included in running a rescue. I do. But it feels like your beating a dead horse here. They already applied for everything needed. We are licensed already. Everything is ready to go

 

[KD006]

I bought the $8 something scale from walmart today, comes with a bowl/dustcover and it fit my 2 pound pig easily (one confused piggy though "what the heck are you putting me in bowl for?") It is easily adjustable for tare weight so you could use a light weight basket or tray also if you wanted a roomier platform. Not going to get down to +/- 1 gram but easy enough to use and inexpensive and should be able to get down to +/- 1 ounce. Brand was Mainstays and was with the kitchen stuff.

 

[pinky]

I already do know there is a big difference. Yogi and Arvella, will be coming over here to specify and make sure I am aware of everything I need to know. I am not concerned about any inspections. I am nervous but I am confident in my abilities. I understand your trying to be sure I understand everything that is included in running a rescue. I do. But it feels like your beating a dead horse here. They already applied for everything needed. We are licensed already. Everything is ready to go

I thought you were starting up a brand new rescue. Sorry. I misunderstood.

 

[KristenMatejka]

Thank you KD006 I'll have to look into ordering one.

 

[KristenMatejka]

No, it's fine. The reason I didn't start a new rescue was because I knew if I did all the paperwork by myself it would have been overwhelming. Yogi, the founder of the rescue has done all of it and has kept me updating by e-mails and phone calls. And we will be having a meeting soon for me to sign and read over my part of the paperwork

 

[KD006]

Walmart.com: Mainstays Kitchen Scale: Kitchen & Dining

Bowl is not shown but clear and it covers the scale when not in use about 8" dia, cheap enough to get more than one. No local walmarts? Arkansas must really have it out for you guys!