Blind, grieving guinea pig in care amid soaring number of abandoned pets

There has been a sharp rise in the number of pets being abandoned and animal charities say it is a worrying symptom of the cost-of-living crisis.
Last year, across the South and the Thames Valley, more than 1600 animals were left without a home, an increase of 14 per cent compared to 2021.
RSPCA The Ark in Fareham, Hampshire is urging owners to ask for help if they are struggling before making the decision to give them up as their centre is now full of animals waiting for their forever home.
Gunnar the guinea pig is one of the small animals at the centre.
He was handed over with multiple health conditions which led him to losing his eyesight. He is also grieving the loss of his friend Axel.
Casey O’Dowda, Small animal and stock animal lead at RSPCA The Ark said: “There are many reasons people give up small animals – the most popular one is ‘the kids have lost interest’ or it takes more work to look after them than they thought.
“They require a lot of space.
“I feel like pet shops don’t give accurate measurements for enclosures that they need and that they’re generally too small and then they come in here because the animal is stressed and they can’t figure out why.
“So we get quite a high number of them.”
When pet owners can no longer look after their animals, the RSPCA says handing them over to an animal charity is the responsible thing to do, rather than leaving them out in the cold.
RSPCA staff say, however, not only have they seen a rise in pets being abandoned, but the condition they are left in is also getting worse.
Charlotte Jones, Behaviour and Welfare Specialist at RSPCA The Ark said: “Unfortunately we are seeing a rise in people abandoning their pets.
“I think the winter just is tough for everybody, especially with the cost of living crisis.
“Everybody is struggling financially.
“The cost of everything going up means that people in turn can no longer look after those animals. So definitely this month we will see a rise of either people signing their animals over to us or unfortunately abandoning them.”
Lizzie Cessford, Animal care assistant, RSPCA The Ark said: “It’s really sad, unfortunately that’s what we see every day here.
“The vast majority of the dogs in the kennel block I look after are either stray dogs or have been abandoned in some way.
“They come in in all sorts of ways – they might turn up here, someone might bring them in and they’ve found them somewhere and then we can just never track down the owner.
“There’s all sorts of reasons they come in and sometimes we never find out their background or where they came from.”
Ms Jones added: “We are here to help. The national RSPCA is here to help as well. Please seek out any support from us even if that’s just a phone call, we’re always happy to chat to you.
“We have a long waiting list of animals waiting to come into the shelter, but we’re advising people to be patient and work with us so that they don’t abandon their animals, and we will help as soon as we can.”
The centre is currently full and there is a waiting list, but the charity says it will always try to help owners where possible. RSPCA The Ark is self-funded and relies on its volunteers to keep going.
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