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Guinea pigs and other small mammals don’t do well as solitary pets. They need at least one companion or they get lonely. Guinea pig owners know this, but the Swiss government takes it very seriously. In Switzerland, it’s illegal to keep a single guinea pig, which causes a potentially endless problem:
[...] the owner would have to purchase a new, probably younger guinea pig as a companion to the ageing survivor, whose eventual death would force the purchase of yet another guinea pig, locking the owner into an endless cycle of guinea pig purchases in order to adhere to Swiss law — even though he or she may only ever have wanted one guinea pig in the first place.
Animal lover and entrepreneur Priska Küng found a solution. She owns eighty guinea pigs and rents them out to owners of solitary pigs, who can return them after their own pigs has passed on:
She takes 50 Swiss francs (€41) for a castrated male and 60 francs for a female, “as a deposit,” Küng explains. In effect, she sells the animals but pays back half the purchase price when they are returned. The job of the leased rodents is to cheer up companions in their twilight years.
Some return after just a few poignant weeks, others after months, but some stay away for years. “Sometimes people realize that they still get so much enjoyment from the guinea pigs that they want to go on keeping them and come back for another one once their supposed last pet has died,” says Küng.
Link -via Marginal Revolution | Photo by Flickr user mksystem used under Creative Commons license
Aren’t they adorable? The best-dressed guinea pigs are wearing holiday costumes from Cuddly Cavies Costumes and Clothes for Guinea Pigs & Rabbits. It may be too late to order your Christmas clothing, but there are costumes for guinea pigs to wear for Halloween, Thanksgiving, graduation, Talk Like a Pirate Day, and everyday animal and super hero costumes as well! Link -via Rue the Day
Someone … clearly had too much time on their hands. Sick of the mainstream media only covering the most popular sports? Take a look at these guinea pigs performing in their very own and very special olympics.
The cute critters are digitally manipulated by
Steve Bicknell of Icarus Arts Publishing. You can buy the 2009 Calendar featuring the guinea pigs at Maverick Arts Club.
Life in the Fast Lanes has a funny account of the guinea pigs:
The Guinea Pig Games (GPG) Olympics have started with an amazing opening as rascally rodents display their dedication to their chosen sports. In the struggle for survival, only the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals with their stamina, prowess, and incredible feats to win gold, silver, and bronze medals.
