Overrun with pandemic-era guinea pigs, NYC shelters press for pet shop ban

MANHATTAN (CN) — Cute, furry and quartered indoors, guinea pigs seemed like the perfect pandemic pet for New Yorkers seeking animal companionship fit for tiny spaces. But many learned the hard way that the animals are deceptively difficult to care for, and, as Covid restrictions were lifted, decided it was time to put up their new pet pals for adoption.

The task of finding new homes for the fast-breeding rodents has fallen to animal shelters, whose staff say they are overwhelmed by the influx: Citywide, intake since May 2021 has been double its prepandemic rate.

“They simply can’t keep up, and there are not enough homes to be provided for them,” Allie Taylor, founder and president of Voters for Animal Rights, told Courthouse News.

Some owners don’t even bother to bring their unwanted pets to an adoption center. Neighborhood Facebook group posts report guinea pigs being abandoned in city parks. One segment of the Long Island Expressway has become a “known dumping ground” for the critters, who hide in brush lining the road. In September, 20 guinea pigs were left in the lobby of a Staten Island apartment building; five of them were pregnant.

Concerned for the animals’ wellbeing and looking to convert would-be buyers into adopters, advocates are pressing the New York City council to pass a bill that would ban guinea pig sales within the city.

“Pet stores like Petco and PetSmart are just trying to make a quick buck and playing off of people’s hearts, so they will sell a guinea pig to anybody,” Taylor said. “They sell them without proper pet care, without them being spayed or neutered — and then once people get them home and they start multiplying, or people are no longer interested in caring for them, the animal ends up paying the ultimate price.”

https://www.courthousenews.com/overrun-with-pandemic-era-guinea-pigs-nyc-shelters-press-for-pet-shop-ban/