Guinea pigs dumped by New Forest car park now need a home

The four adults and seven babies were let loose next to two wooden arches in gorse bushes near Bramshaw Wood car park on September 21.

The animals, suspected by the RSPCA to have been born of accidental breeding, were at risk of being attacked by predators nearby - but thankfully they were found quickly by the client of a dog walker, Julie King, at 4pm.

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Julie took them in and placed them in a large run in her garage before contacting the animal welfare charity.

Julie, who lives near the woods, said: “When one of my dog-walking customers called me I went immediately to the location with a couple of cat baskets to collect the guinea pigs.

“It was distressing to see as some of the babies were only a day or two old, so anything could have happened to them.

“One of the mothers is just two to three months old and she already has two babies."

Despite being wet after the ordeal, the guinea pigs were in good health. After being given a thorough check-over, they are now being found new homes by the dog walker and the RSPCA.

Julie said: “I have a number of people who are interested in taking them and with the advice I have received from the RSPCA I will make sure they are adopted by owners who are going to meet their welfare needs.

“When they are rehomed I will also direct other potential adopters of guinea pigs towards the [charity] and their advice.”

RSPCA inspector Graham Hammond, who attended the incident to rescue the eleven pigs, said: “The person who abandoned these vulnerable animals left them under two open wooden arches with only a pile of pellets and some carrots.

"It was a completely reckless and callous act.

“Nearby there would have been dogs off-lead and foxes too, so they would have stood no chance of fending for themselves had they not been picked up.”

Roy, the Guinea pigs found in the New Forest (Image: RSPCA)

Inspector Hammond added: "This is nothing new unfortunately and we saw similar abandonments in pre-covid times, but now it seems the cost of living is having a big impact and incidents like this are all too common.

“We suspect this incident may be as a result of accidental breeding which has gotten out of hand and the owners have quickly found they have a large number of guinea pigs.

"There are two litters and one of the mothers may be pregnant again.

“Sexing guinea pigs is so important to make sure they don’t multiply.

"Pet shops should be correctly sexing young guinea pigs, selling same-sex pairs or advising owners about the importance of speaking to their vets and organising timely neutering, but they often don’t do that and we get to this stage."

The charity says this is one of several recent Guinea pig abandonments which has left its animal centres packed with the unwanted rodents.