How can people not care for their animals?

[Sweetdreamsbeautifulnightmare]

We have a new neighbour who moved in a few months ago who has a guinea pig. I get on well with the neighbour and we have socialised. However, she doesn’t look after the guinea pig. I can see it from my garden and it’s never fed nor cleaned out. I’ve hinted at it and she says she doesn’t care about it 😔 she’s basically waiting for it to die! I offered to look after it myself and she skirted around it.

I said again how we would love a guinea pig shall we take it for you and she just kind of ignored me!

However, over the last two weeks it hasn’t been cleaned out and I hear it squealing. When I know she’s gone out to work (she works in a care home and leaves the same time every day) I sneak in and feed it! However I only give it greens and veggies etc.

I’ve now noticed its food bowl of pellets is empty and it has no hay at all either and hasn’t for days. I then went and got some hay and food and have been sneaking that in too! I feel so sorry for it as I’d give it a lovely home and let it run on the grass etc.. this one never comes out at all.

I don’t know what else I can do though? I know he has some annual leave soon so won’t be leaving at the same time for me to sneak in the garden! What would you do?! I genuinely feel so upset for the poor baby!

Horrible woman is probably planning to starve it so that she can tell her son that it ‘died of old age’, rather than having to tell him that she’s given it away.

Can't you just tell her you're disgusted how she's neglecting a living creature, and either she starts looking after it properly or she can give it to you. Why do you care what she thinks of you when she's guilty of animal cruelty?

That's so sad, I had guinea pigs when I was a teenager and we looked after them well. They got guinea pig food as well as fresh veggies, they had a run for the summer and we brought the hutch inside in the winter so their water didn't freeze. Plenty of hay to keep them warm. Their hutch was cleaned out every week. I cannot fathom how anyone can ignore and mistreat any living animal. Please keep asking to take it off their hands til they give in so you can give it better life.

You are a good person , thank you for caring about this poor creature. Please waste no time in helping, especially in this heat (please god, it has fresh water?).
I wouldn’t state your animal abuse concerns to your neighbour just yet. I’d try along the lines of….’ My DS is begging for a guinea pig and we’d be happy to pay £x for yours, as I know you’re not too keen on it these days’ . Hopefully she would accept. If not, ask if you can have it ‘for a while’ as you want to check your DS really likes them/isn’t allergic and hope she never wants it back.

My goodness what a nasty, malicious thing to say. Of course I don't want the poor animal dead.
Unbelievable some of the posters on MN.

I understand the intention is good.
But it's still stealing.

Does anyone care though? We could get into a philosophical conversation about stealing 😂 but does it matter purely because you can apply the word stealing? Because there is always nuance to such things

This was the avenue I plan on going down!

Eh? Who got my post deleted? All it said was RSPCA are only a charity, NDN could just ignore them even if they do visit.

Honestly are some trigger happy posters on here and Mn shouldn’t delete posts that people have put time and effort into typing just because another random poster doesn’t like what it said. It’s so rude

Because they think they are a fashion accessory

I Don’t think anyone thinks a guinea pig is a fashion accessory 🤣

Because ops feeding it the rspca wouldn’t actually do anything as the owner could claim they have been feeding it also op would have to leave it well alone.

Rspca act the best when there is a tv crew behind them mostly or a known case that will make it into the papers because it’s really really bad. Like the 30 dogs in a shit covered house type stories.

Not normally that fussed about 1 pet especially small furries.

We struggle to get them out for chickens on the allotment and have to exaggerate a lot to get them to attend. Once you can get them out they can be good but getting them out in the first place seems to take a lot.

If she won't sell it to you, I would see if you've got a small animal rescue centre near you. I would have no problem taking it to somewhere safe - just leave the hutch door open so she thinks it's escaped. I don't suppose she will try too hard to find the poor thing!

Please please please do something OP 😩 this absolutely breaks my heart. I know it happens so much but if it was in front of me I’d have to do something. We all have to advocate for innocent animals. Please do what others have suggested and take it one night, she’d probably be relieved by the sound of it. If you’re in Essex I’d be happy to help!

I agree with other posters about offering the woman some money. It should show her you’re serious about wanting to look after it.

People do all sorts of things that break the law for all sorts of reasons, some of which are altruistic. But unfortunately the law doesn't recognise nuance.

It doesn’t matter though because in this case the law won’t be enforced, therefore no impact of breaking it. The law will be ignorant of this, not asked to recognise nuance

I hope you can hatch a plan to rescue the piggie OP. Poor little thing, why are people so ridiculously cruel and thoughtless? Makes my blood boil!

It’s because they prioritise those animals most at risk. They only have around 300 inspectors to cover all of the UK and receive approx 2500 calls per day.

@Sweetdreamsbeautifulnightmare don’t offer to buy it. That’s what I did and she said no.

It’s best to take it secretly and rehome. If it goes wrong and she finds out tell her you’ll happily hand it over to rspca. Take photos of the bare cage with no hay etc. if filthy or no water, even better.

Get your evidence ready. You are rescuing it. Good luck.

Here's an idea: how about the chief exec and all the other execs take a pay cut? They'd be able to employ a fair few more inspectors then.

Or how about just not bother with them at all
and have animal safety funded by the government and an agency who have real
power?

That might be why but it doesn’t change when people say oh call the rspca they mostly they won’t be coming. It rather proves they won’t be.

It took a lot of arguing with them to get them to come to chickens flooded out with zero dry space and no food as it was well flooded.

We couldn’t do anything as we had no rights to break into the locked chicken runs, the rspca can with police back up. Police wouldn’t be coming out because an allotment manager rings them about some chickens. We needed them and they tried so hard to not come.

They did NOTHING and the dog remained chained by the neck on concrete 24/7. It was horrific. They did nothing at all to help because it 'had water and food once a day'

This. 100%.