What To Do If You Spot Animal Abuse

Milo's Story

Milo, before (at left) and after emergency surgery

We were contacted by Galveston Animal Services about having received 9 teenage guinea pigs from a person who had been keeping them on a wire bottom cage, very unhealthy for the feet especially of guinea pigs. Several of them have feet injuries, but the worst one is Milo. Molly, an adopter in Houston, rescued them and is fostering them and caring for them until we can arrange transport here to the Rescue. Yvonne is helping with the first leg. Additionally Rachel, Holly and Barbara with Bunny Buddies are helping. Milo saw a vet familiar with guinea pigs and needed the leg amputated. Because we don't personally work with any vets in the Houston area, the procedure - which is already costly - will most likely not be discounted (which is what the vets we work with here graciously do for us). UPDATE: Milo visited Dr. Antinoff at Gulf Coast this morning.  He is scheduled for surgery Wednesday.  His leg had been broken, probably when he was a baby, the bone did not heal and is horribly infected. The surgery cost is estimated to be around $2,000. UPDATE: His temporary foster mum says, "I can't tell you how good Milo looks!!! He is almost a different piggie! His incision looks fantastic (the surgeon did a fabulous job with the sew up), and he is getting around really well. His appetite is good."

 
Poor "Rosie May" - In the enlarged photo, you can see the mushrooms growing at the top of her cage.  The water bottle was bone dry.

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure
My neighbor, who was renting next door, moved out a week ago (skipped out on the owners without paying rent, if that gives you further insight into her character). Sunday, the renter came back to clean out the last of her belongings, and she put the trash out for Monday pick up. That's when I noticed with a shock that they put their guinea pig cage at the curb with the rest of the trash. I realized that they had left their guinea pig inside all week alone to die. If I had looked inside that front window, I might have been able to rescue her! But how many of us look inside our neighbors' windows? How many of us would even imagine that someone would leave a helpless pet without water, in the heat of an empty house? With angry tears, I ran to the curb and sure enough, found the little creature's lifeless form still inside, at the bottom of the cage, an empty water bottle attached to the side. Mushrooms were growing in the bedding, so it had obviously been neglected for quite a while. We had met this poor piggie once before.  The renter had a 6-year-old who terrified her piggie, grabbed it by the fur to pick it up, "petted" it roughly.  We would say, "Gently, now, guinea pigs like to be handled gently," but they didn't care. It was their pig, and they'd do what they wanted with it. The renter knew we were active foster parents for the guinea pig rescue. We even offered, "If you ever think you don't want your piggie anymore, we would be happy to take it," quietly hoping they would take us up on our offer.  We could see how scared the piggie was, and we knew she would thrive under gentle, loving care! She certainly relaxed in our arms when we held her. Some people may feel that pets are trash, no better than the twice-weekly curb refuse. But we felt this piggie, whom we christened "Rosie May," deserved better.  Her life mattered to us, no matter how briefly we knew her. She was a treasure.

This incident has been reported to the city animal services, but without a direct witness who saw the abandoned guinea pig in the empty house, there is probably nothing further that can be done. However, just reporting her death helped us to feel that her loss of life wasn't for nothing.