Sad, and angry. Non-horsey post

[scruffyponies]

Today I got new pet, and it promptly died.

I should explain. One of the dogs caught what I thought was a rabbit at the end of the paddock. When I asked her to give it to me, it was a guinea pig; alive, but wet, cold and in shock (naturally). I did my best to warm it inside my coat, but although not externally injured, it didn't make it. Presumably it had been 'released' from a car in the lay-by at the end of the track. There isn't a house for miles, so very unlikely to be an escapee.

What sort of a person abandons a furry like that? Cowards.

 

[Cahill]

that is so awful and makes me angry.hate to say it but probably making room for a new christmas pet.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

How sad ☹️ People are arseholes.

We get rabbits dumped where we are one lucky one was caught and ended up being the pet of a princesses children, bizarrely it was micro-chipped and the owners were traced but they’d dumped it. It had babies later from a wild father.

 

[holeymoley]

Poor wee squeaker.

We had rabbits dumped once (well I assume, no where else a small baby rabbit would’ve came from) and took it home. Assuming the others disappeared as this one was stuck in the hedge. Definitely not wild, it was a blonde colour. Unfortunately it didn’t make it, too small to have been away from the mother.

 

[silv]

That is so sad, guinea pigs are such delightful little creatures. Round here there is a huge problem with people dumping cats or else not desexing them. I absolutely hate those facebook pages where you see pets being given away for free and constantly passed around. I don't look at them for that reason. Some people are just so awful.

 

[Mule]

Poor thing 😟

 

[Bermuda]

That’s very sad, some people are absolutely horrible. At least there are also kind people like you who tried to help.

 

[honetpot]

Or house used to be at the end of the village, if the foxes didn't get the unwanted pets they used to end up with us.
Someone has managed to lose a whole litter of rabbits in the village and they have been hoping around for at least two weeks and all but two have now been captured, not by their owners but concerned neighbours
People just do not want to pay vets bills. My cats wandered off the live with the neighbours, they fed them even though they knew they were not strays and my daughter who was about ten at the time was really upset. As soon as they need a vet, 'your cats not very well'. They were surprised when I said, 'if you stop feeding it and letting in the house it will come home and I will take it to the vet', which I did.

 

[AlinFaolan]

I found a rabbit dumped in a lay-by down a quiet country lane years ago, she had incredibly long nails, I kept her and had her for some years, very sweet little girl.

 

[Chuffy99]

We found a mum and her babies obviously dumped brought them home and put them in a cage and they had contracted myxomatosis, they died but had sadly given it t our rabbits (before vaccinations) and we lost them too, what a disaster

 

[turkana]

I found a grey lop eared rabbit on the side of the road, I took him to the RSPCA but sadly he had to be put down as he had a borken nose & myxomatosis

Where I used to work there were a lot of black rabbits living wild which I assume where either dumped pets or their offspring, fortunately they seemed to do well

 

[ester]

you do get melanistic wild rabbits.

 

[SEL]

I grew up on a military base where the surrounding rabbits were all multi coloured. It was the days when you would require to pay for quarantine if you took them overseas and then came back to the Uk and I guess people had just turned them loose and they bred with the local population.

My parents got adopted by a cat who we think had been left behind when his family went overseas. He'd been neutered but this was the days before microchips, so they put posters up to try and find his owner but no luck. In the end he went with them when they moved house and lived out his days in front of their gas fire. He landed on his paws!!

 

[cindars]

Friend and I found a guinea pig by the side of a country lane.Friend caught it and we thought what do we do with it both riding quite a way from yard lo and behold a car came by we waved it down to see if they could help and they could took poor go to friends rescue centre.Makes your blood boil.

 

[SpottyMare]

People just do not want to pay vets bills. My cats wandered off the live with the neighbours, they fed them even though they knew they were not strays and my daughter who was about ten at the time was really upset. As soon as they need a vet, 'your cats not very well'. They were surprised when I said, 'if you stop feeding it and letting in the house it will come home and I will take it to the vet', which I did.

My friend had this - her cat disappeared, and she put posters up all around the area asking for information. 6 months later she got a phone call from a woman to tell her that her cat had been hit by a car, had a broken leg and needed the vet... It turned out this woman had been feeding the cat fresh chicken and prawns to encourage it to stay because her husband wouldn't let her have a cat of her own. However, when it came to paying for treatment she wasn't interested...

 

[Shady]

Last year my OH found a puppy that had obviously just been dumped from a car. It was running around in the middle of the road screaming it's head off totally bewildered. It took an hour to catch him with the help of a local hunter as he was totally freaked and tried to bite . We managed to cage him at our house and popped him in the basement to calm down. Later we sat quietly then opened the door and this dear little pup was all over us ,frantic for cuddles. We put posters up everywhere and checked for a chip but nobody came forward . Sadly we couldn't keep him but found him a wonderful home with a man who lived on his own and I understand that they are devoted to each other and never apart so at least that had a happy ending.
I just don't understand people at all sometimes,there were no houses anywhere near where the pup was dumped, just wilderness with a road running through it, it would probably have starved to death

 

[Annagain]

Reminds me of the time my horse was kept on livery on a (non public part of a) small farm park. They had rabbits for petting and one grew very big and was quite aggressive towards the others. I went to the muck heap to empty a barrow to find the owner whacking a feed bag with a shovel repeatedly. I realised later the poor rabbit was inside it. I was only 15 and didn't own my boy outright at the time so couldn't leave but I never spoke to that man again. All they had to do was build him a separate pen or even take him to a vet but they couldn't be bothered or didn't want the expense. I still get upset thinking about it 25 years on.

 

[Tarragon]

These little pets do escape also though so some just might be lost rather than dumped. My black rabbit got out once and was reported seen hopping down the road. We went off looking for him and couldn't find him and came back home an hour later feeling very sad only to find him sitting in our drive! He had doubled back and we hadn't spotted him.
I was once out riding and saw a tortoise walking along the side of the road. It had its address painted on the underside of its shell and so I picked it up and took it the half mile back home. It was quite hard to ride the pony while holding a tortoise in the other hand trying to leaver itself out of my grip by putting its back feet onto the palm of my hand and pushing!

 

[ester]

Lol we had a travelling tortoise too, it was remarkable how he’d come!

 

[Hexx]

A few years ago the YO's neighbours left their guinea pig in a hutch with no food, bedding or water while they went away for 10 days holiday over Christmas. We only found him because the yard had been burgled and the YO went to check the neighbour's house to check it was OK. They hadn't told the YO they'd left him or asked her to feed him. There was snow on the ground and he was in a right old state.

They never once asked about him when they got back - even with the YO prodding them for information. Obviously decided they didn't want him anymore and the "best thing" was to let him die over the Christmas period!!

Anyway, the guinea pig somehow made his way to my house and Fudge lived a long and happy life surrounded by a harem of 4 guinea-girls who all adored him (once he'd been relieved of his bits!).

 

[Antw23uk]

Am I the only one that never finds abandoned animals, lol! I've been desperate my whole life to be that person although knowing my luck it would be a rabbit or a hamster .. Yuk!! Sorry to hear about the cavie OP, they are such awesome little creatures, the poor thing didnt stand a chance!

 

[hollyandivy123]

does it count when your neighbors free range chickens start laying in your stable............3 nests..........always had eggs and you forget to tell them?

 

[Tarragon]

A few years ago the YO's neighbours left their guinea pig in a hutch with no food, bedding or water while they went away for 10 days holiday over Christmas. We only found him because the yard had been burgled and the YO went to check the neighbour's house to check it was OK. They hadn't told the YO they'd left him or asked her to feed him. There was snow on the ground and he was in a right old state.

They never once asked about him when they got back - even with the YO prodding them for information. Obviously decided they didn't want him anymore and the "best thing" was to let him die over the Christmas period!!

Anyway, the guinea pig somehow made his way to my house and Fudge lived a long and happy life surrounded by a harem of 4 guinea-girls who all adored him (once he'd been relieved of his bits!).

Fudge was one lucky guinea pig!
I love guinea pigs and before I got my ponies (having had a long gap from having ponies as a child and getting my first pony when I was 35 years old!) I kept guinea and rabbits. I think it was actually a subconscious pony replacement with the hutches just being mini stables! The only difference is that riding was out

 

[Tarragon]

does it count when your neighbors free range chickens start laying in your stable............3 nests..........always had eggs and you forget to tell them?

Definitely yours to keep
The eggs that is - not the chickens!!

 

[Kaylum]

We had a white rat dumped at the sancutary last year couldnt catch it and it died.

 

[FrecklesTheCat]

When I was a child we took in a zebra finch my Mum caught in the back garden, a stray cat and an abandoned rabbit! We also had a feral cat that used to come for his tea, would occasionally sit in the living room and would never let anyone near him!
I've never had any stray or abandoned animals to adopt here (Although our cats come from the cat sanctuary, but we adopted them rather than the other way round!) There was a domestic rabbit living with the wild ones for a while, a beautiful ginger boy. But he was totally happy and didn't want to be caught, we still see the occasional ginger in amongst the wild brown so his legacy lives on
My parents have just recently adopted another stray cat that was wandering around them! For some reason folk near them seem to move away leaving the cats behind

 

[hackedoff]

I found a white mouse when hacking out once in Birmingham, it was strolling down the side of a lane. I got off and put it in my riding hat and walked with it in the hat and horse in tow to the local guinepig lady who took it in. It would have been picked off by a kestrel or local foxes on its own as stood out like a sore thumb. A friend of mine used to regularly "rescue' random creatures and ride home with them stuffed down her jacket...

 

[Tarragon]

There was a domestic rabbit living with the wild ones for a while, a beautiful ginger boy. But he was totally happy and didn't want to be caught, we still see the occasional ginger in amongst the wild brown so his legacy lives on

When I was a child we had a white New Zealand rabbit called Suzie who escaped, then came back of her own accord and a few weeks later had a litter of 8 babies, of which 4 were white and 4 were suspiciously wild rabbit brown!