Austin Guinea Pig Rescue on the Hunt for Serial Piggie-Dumper

A dumped piggie cared for by Austin Guinea Pig Rescue (Courtesy of Austin Guinea Pig Rescue)

Austin Guinea Pig Rescue is calling on Austinites to keep an eye out for piggie dumpers who have been leaving the pets on the side of I-35 and in bathrooms at city parks as far north as Cedar Park and as far south as Buda.

The 17-year-old nonprofit first received a call about piggies left in a Central Austin park in August 2021. Now they get two to three calls a month from hikers and bikers finding abandoned piggies. "We are guessing that this breeder was selling these satin piggies like crazy during the pandemic because people were home," says Elizabeth Frisch, president of the nonprofit. "That all came to a crashing halt last year and people stopped not only buying piggies but [started] surrendering them en masse to shelters."

Frisch says the dumper can reach out to the rescue to surrender all their animals "no questions asked," but until that happens, she hopes the community will look out for someone dumping guinea pigs, generally between 3 and 6pm – get their license plate number or stop to inform them that the rescue will take their surrendered pets.

If you're looking to adopt, Austin Guinea Pig Rescue has 30 piggies and Second Chance Cavy Rescue has 150 up for adoption.