iPig's Adventures

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swirlysf
Supporting my GP Habit

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 4:55 am


I say take the piggy and props to you for doing so.

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Hunybee

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:39 am


I say take him, the soon the better too. Good Luck with your herd.
I think this would be a rescue from PetnotsoSmart.

Pigs1994

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:57 am


I'd take him and get him out of there! I bought a male from Petsmart a few years ago. I was in the store monthy to buy supplies and I'll bet that little guy was there for nearly a year. Finally, I decided to buy him and I considered it very much a rescue!

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rkog

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:18 am


Pigs1994, buying him is not rescuing him; they got money, ergo you encouraged the breeding mill industry. You also opened a space for another animal to enter the pet store process.

Demus, if there is no money exchanged, I'd say take him. While I like the idea of the store losing money on animals as a discouraging factor in selling them, I think they will likely let him die of neglect or euthanisia rather than put any more into him. Frankly, I'm shocked they gave him $600 in care. I'm sure he was replaced on the floor long ago.

I hope this is something "fixable" for the little fella. Good luck.

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JudiL-MetroGPRescue
Poop Obsessed

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:30 am


Kermie, how awful! That deserves a smack upside the head for whoever at the store thought that was appropriate.

I say take him, for sure! He sounds quite needy.

Pigs1994

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:32 am


rkog; excuse me, but is there not a fee associated with adopting?

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iastate09
Supporter in '15

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:47 am


Yes, pigs1994, but that fee goes to fund the RESCUE in what they are doing and the costs they incur for supplies and vet bills.
Money to pet stores goes to the breeders who need to be stopped and encourages breeding and likely neglectful treatment of pigs. Its not about the money coming out of your pocket, its about WHERE that money is going. Big difference.

Pigs1994

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:12 am


I agree. But I saw an animal that needed a home.

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Jaycey
Supporter in 2014

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:16 am


Yeah, iastate is right unfortunately. I have a friend who "rescued" a dog from a breeder. She paid them £350 and came away with a puppy. That's not rescuing, that's buying a dog from a breeder!

One of my guinea pigs is a rescue bought through a pet shop. I'd seen him a few times on my visits and queried them. He was actually from an adoption centre that was overcrowded so the pet shop took him in to try to rehome him. He was available for an optional adoption charge, so I could have taken him for free. After finding out details of the adoption centre I decided to pay for him as the centre received the donation, not the pet store. To me, that was a rescue.

I've since seen the petshop use this 'adoption area' to sell off their unwanted pets, who have been there for a little while. I remember asking about one and they said he was in there because they'd had him for a few months and hadn't sold. They did want a fee for him, £10, which is cheaper than the rest of the guinea pigs, but wasn't optional. That's not rescuing, that's buying from a petshop.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 10:56 am


Pigs1994, I agree that that pig needed a home. But so will the next one, and the next one, and the next one that come from pet stores supplied by breeders. Are you going to buy them all? Because what your purchase does is open up another slot to be filled by a breeder-supplied pig.

If you search the forums here and at Guinea Pig Cages, you can find some truly dreadful pictures of the way breeding guinea pigs are kept and treated, and how they're shipped to the pet stores. All you've done is perpetuate that kind of animal abuse.

I'm sure there were pigs available from rescues and shelters near you when you got your pig. They also needed homes, but taking one of those pigs would not have provided a breeder and a pet shop an opportunity to get rid of, and make money from, a guinea pig.

Some states have had success in stopping pet stores from selling puppies and kittens because of the horrendous conditions they're bred and kept in. I can only hope that one day that will happen for all animals.

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onetwo

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:07 am


TY Bpatters. Giving a pet store money for animals OR supplies is purpetuating the abuse. Find a store that does not sell live animals from breeders to buy supplies from. That way you won't have to look at the poor critters that need homes.

They are all animals and they do need homes but giving them money and providing a demand for their "merchandise" is funding the issue. Its a bad short term solution. We could all go out and buy up all the guinea pigs at every local pet store but them the breeders would breed more and more mommies and babies will die because they don't care about proper diet, or genetics or sanitation... The only thing they care about is profits. This is why real rescues are non profits because its about care of the animals...

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clairey

Post   » Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:18 am


Yup, I'd call this guy a definite rescue.

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