Tomorrow afternoon I will have 2 foster children to care for, two boys. I am going to collect them around 4pm from Yorkshire, settle them in the car, drive home and then on arrival home place them in the bath were they will be sleeping for the next few days.
If you are heading at speed to your telephone to contact social services, stop. Now. Why? you may be asking. It simple, these foster children are two guinea pigs and before you call the RSPCA their travel box (or rather my friends cats travel box) will serve as a house for them and will join them in the bath and the bath will be lined with towels so that their poor little feet don't get cold when taking some exercise in the bath.
I volunteered to collect these lads, the gentleman who is currently housing them doesn't have the space for them. They are not his piggies though, they are his cousins I am unsure as to the reason why they have chosen to rehouse them.
The plan is that they will stay here for around a week and then head on to the rescue after my next set of nights off (I am back in on Saturday) however in between me offering to collect them and now the rescue has become inundated with unwanted guinea pigs and his fosters are also full, so I have informed him that I can foster them till the back end of April if need be. Its so, so sad though that so many pets that could offer their owners so much love and joy become unwanted and treated as disposable thus ending in rescues. It makes me angry, very angry. All pets have a right to a loving, caring forever home and my hope is that each and everyone of them goes off to a home much better than their current one. It has always been my opinion that when a pet is sent off to a rescue, unwanted that they can't off being receiving much love and attention in their homes because if they had their owners would of realised what delightful animals they are and how much a pet can offer and the enrichment it can bring to their lives and having realised all this they would never be able to part with their pet. I know that some owners are forced to give up their pets for genuine reasons and are heartbroken by this fact. It is not these people I am referring to.
Many of these pets are unwanted Christmas presents, in the words of one rescue "is March dump your pet month?", my belief is that the film G-Force has added to the number of children wanting guinea pigs, but the reality is that guinea pigs are nothing like what they are portrayed in the film. Its a sad fact of life pets are bought as cute babies but then they grow up (to me they remain cute), time moves on and the owner (often a child) becomes bored. Parents can't be bothered with caring for the pet themselves (it is actually illegal for a child under 16 to be given total responsibility for a pet) and so off they go to rescue . It is not really the child's fault, the parents need to think very carefully of what they are taking on and though the pet is for the child the whole family needs to take responsibility for the care and welfare for the pet. There is evidence to suggest that children who have pets as children are less selfish and more considerate of the needs of others.
The parents need to be involved in caring for the pet encouraging the child along the way to be involved with their pets care and reminding them of the importance of ensuring that their pet gets the very best care through out its life and doing their best to maintain the child's interest in their pet, as with anything you get out what you put in, you reap what you sow. What sort of signal does it send out to the child that when they get bored they send their pet off to rescue? What sort of messages does that send out about life in general.
Sorry if I seem to have got onto my soap box a bit but its something that is very important to me. This afternoon I was approached by a someone who is waiting for a rescue place for their guinea pigs, the rescue currently being full. They asked me if I would foster theirs as well as the two I have already agreed to, sadly there is not enough room at the inn for them all. Their reason, they let their heart rule their head and with little consideration of the costs involved acquired 9 animals and now realise they have bitten off more they can chew and they simply can't afford to keep that many so off to the rescue they go.
Before you get a pet. THINK. THINK LONG AND HARD!
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