[Lynx]

Pet stores should be your last choice.

Why?

• Many guinea pigs in pet stores are ill.
• Many guinea pigs in pet stores have parasites.
• Many guinea pigs are homeless and need your help.

The best choice you can make is to adopt a guinea pig from a shelter or a rescue.

[cabaya]

When you buy a pet from a store you make it possible for the store to buy another pig from a breeding mill, giving these awful places more money to neglect animals, but make their own lives better. A good place to read about all of this is here:
http://cavyspirit.com/petstores.htm

[miniWeaver]

Pet stores are also very nasty which gives guinea pigs, and other animals for that matter, different diseases than just parasites or something like that. You get animals that are very sick and adopting helps other animals that have been there for a while and really need a home beacuse usually they have been through worse!!