Driving along I-35 or using a public toilet in an Austin park, no one suspects that they will stumble upon a stray guinea pig, and even more so a rare one. Recently, however, the local non-profit organization Austin Navy Rescue received several notices of abandoned satin guinea pigs in the city, as far north as Round Rock and as far south as Buda.
“We now have over 20 guineas and most of them are on hold as we assess their health and await the birth of pregnant children,” AGPR president Elisabeth Frisch told MySA.
According to the AGPR, many of the animals are satin guinea pigs, so the organization believes the breeder is responsible for the number of guinea pigs found on the streets of Austin. The organization also believes that all guinea pigs can be related.
“In August 2022, we started noticing that we were being taken from local shelters and we were being called on the phone or via Facebook to capture piglets, guinea pigs with ‘satin’ DNA,” says Frisch. “It is rare and not even approved for sale in most pet stores because there is a disease called satin syndrome that affects many satins.
In normal years, according to Frisch, they receive very few, and sometimes zero, atlases submitted by AGPR. Organization volunteers chase abandoned guinea pigs throughout central Texas.
“This person has not yet entered the same park,” says Frisch. “They are moving parks for every drop so we are offering an amnesty and asking for the news to spread the word that we will be taking all the animals as this also endangers our volunteers crawling in the woods and other areas trying to trap and trap these frightened animals with snakes, scorpions, thorns and poison ivy everywhere.”
The organization is asking anyone who refuses guinea pigs to call them at (512) 648-6536 or email [email protected], no questions asked, so they can donate their remaining animals.
AGPR is also asking people who find stray guinea pigs on the street to contact the organization or, if you can catch the animal with a small box or towel, call your local animal shelter.
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