someone stole my pets

[lilyka]

I am so sad and just want to vent a little. we have been keeping out guinea pigs in the garage because everything is so much nicer outside (the door was open about 2 feet- the height of the cage- and it is completrely shaded. cooler than inside the house). we had two piggies. we were also bunny sitting for the neighbor boy. on our way home from grandmas house today i was assigning pet chores to everyone so the pets could all be tended to before we did anything else. as we pulled into the drive way my oldest dd cried out "where are the piggies?" sure enough everything was gone! cages, animals, food, care supplies. nothing else was stolen so this clearly wasn't a theft outside of them wanting our pets. There was a lot of expensive stuff in the garage where the pigs were, if it was just random stealing they would have taken other stuff and not grabbed things like hay and cage liners. several people said it sounds like mischevous kids. but kids wouldn't know what all the animals needed and these were not small cages. they were both quite large and the bags of food, care supplies etc they would have had to dig around through stuff to know what everything was.

at first i though maybe animal control had taqken them thinking it eas too hot out there but it really was quite cool, there was no citation, and AC doesn't take food or cages. we called all the shelters to see if some nose someone took it upon themselves to turn them in but nope. we filed a police report. i don't know how i am going to tell the neighbor boy his cherished bunny is gone.

in the end we filed a police report but he doesn't have a lot of hope.

i just want the babies back. we loved those llittle rodents.

[greenmagick]

oh no! I am so sorry. How horrible

[SevenVeils]

It sounds like someone who was concerned about them. Guinea pigs have a very low heat tolerance.

[Eco_Ma]

oh thats awful!! To be honest you'll never know why they were stolen unless you find out who had taken them. You were obviously doing your best by them.Dont feel guilty. its most likely to have been someone who wanted pets without paying for them. Most sensible animal lovers would approach you first if they thought living conditions were too hot. Plus why would they steal supplies!!

hugs to you and your family I hope they are found xxx

[Watershippy]

That's horrible! I'm so sorry.

Have you put up "Missing" or "Stolen" posters? Maybe someone saw something.

[angie7]

!!!! That is awful! I'm so sorry, I can't imagine how you and your kids are feeling

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by SevenVeils

It sounds like someone who was concerned about them. Guinea pigs have a very low heat tolerance.

It doesn't sound like concern to me. Concerned people call animal control, they don't just steal. Even a misguided concerned person would at least leave a note or something. It just sounds like blatant theft to me.

[Melaniee]

I'm sorry. Have you checked your local vets, for sale ads and craigslist to see if they have been listed? Maybe if there's a local "rescue" just in case someone did take them and then turn them in.

[lilyka]

thanks! I didn't even think about someone taking them to sale. i will definitely keep an eye on that.

it was not hot out. maybe 70*-80*F and the garage is the coolest place in the house, well ventelated etc (we do not have ac, most people in this neighborhood do not) and it was a mild day. our vet (a specialist in small animals) said it was fine to leave them outside so long as they were well sheltered from any rain or preditors. they have been semi - outside for about a month and were really thriving.

[Siennaflower]

That is just awful!!!! I hope you're able to locate them. I agree with checking Craigslist, not just for the animals but for the cages, etc. That just boils my blood.

[number572]

Did you get your pets back yet? I hope so!

edit: Have you checked these ads out?
http://sd.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=guinea%20pig

[NewDirections]

I'm so sorry : How are your children dealing with it?

[Girl In The Fire]

Originally Posted by laohaire

It doesn't sound like concern to me. Concerned people call animal control, they don't just steal. Even a misguided concerned person would at least leave a note or something. It just sounds like blatant theft to me.

"Concerned" people steal pets all the time thinking they are "saving" the animals. People steal dogs out of others yards fairly regularly because they were chained or "underweight" or "neglected" or X Y Z. I have been on dog lists for years and this is something that comes up on a regular basis. In fact, I have been on lists in the past where people would conspire to steal and transport dogs far away because nosy neighbor didn't like way the owner was treating the dog.

This is probably what happened to OP pets, someone saw them thought they were being "abused" and "neglected" and that person saved them. I would make it a point to contact any rabbit/guinea pig rescues and clubs in the area they may end up with them or possibly have them.

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by Girl In The Fire

"Concerned" people steal pets all the time thinking they are "saving" the animals. People steal dogs out of others yards fairly regularly because they were chained or "underweight" or "neglected" or X Y Z. I have been on dog lists for years and this is something that comes up on a regular basis. In fact, I have been on lists in the past where people would conspire to steal and transport dogs far away because nosy neighbor didn't like way the owner was treating the dog.

This is probably what happened to OP pets, someone saw them thought they were being "abused" and "neglected" and that person saved them. I would make it a point to contact any rabbit/guinea pig rescues and clubs in the area they may end up with them or possibly have them.

ITA

We've seen talk like that too, even here!

And, I definitely can remember people making that type of suggestion before with dogs who were left out/chained all day and not fed/given water. There's a lot of frustration when people see that stuff going on and animal control does nothing.

[rhiOrion]

I hate to even suggest this, but...

Do you maybe have a little spare cash to put up as a "reward"?

You could put up signs, "reward for safe return of piggies AND bunny, no questions asked."

It makes me want to spout all sorts of UAVs to think of giving the thieves money, but if it gets your beloved pets back....

[lilyka]

Our babies are back!!!!

It was a kid that stole them. One day the neighbor girl came over and told me she had seen the bunny at a girls house (this was the second bunny sighting on that block - if you are going to steal a rabbit stay away from rare breeds.....) I said what kind of cage was it in and she described it perfectly. Unfortunately the girl had sold the piggies for $40. So a couple of days later little girl and I went for a walk and she showed me the house where this girl lived. I had to work that weekend and was waiting until monday to call the police. Monday morning I walked out to my car and my oldest dd sqealed "PIGGIES" and there they were, right in the middle of our drive way. Shivering, cold, wet, malnurished half the size they were when they left us. There cage was rusted out, clearly they had been left outside unsheltered. and we have gotten an insane amount of rain this summer. I doubt the person who toopl them thought we were doing a bad job. So I called the detective in charge of the case and he was shocked to say the least. but he called me back within 5 minutes, had the girls dad on the phone and the dad could not get that rabbit back to us fast enough. apparently the kids had said they were babysitting or something and when the food ran out the parents must have noticed something was up....anyway the police asked me if I wanted to press charges. i declined but did want the girl to give our children a face to face apology. i think she would have rather gone to juvie. she looked like she was going to throw up. It has been a couple weeks now and both piggies and bunnies are thriving and home again.

The happy reunion (please forgive how my kids are holding the piggies....)

the piggies last winter you will notice in the picture the black and white one is twice the size of the brown and caramel one. we got snap from the pet shop at only a few weeks only and a few weeks later they had a girl at the humane society for us who was a couple years old. Dora assumed the baby was her baby and snap assumed dora was her mama. cutest thing ever. when they came back Dora was skin and bones and smaller than the baby. i like to think she was giving baby the food because that is what a good mama does

[greenmagick]

Oh wow...what a wonderful update!

I was actually just thinking about this story earlier today...so glad you came back to update.

[Rach]

: What a great update!!

[Siennaflower]

Yay!!!! :

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

glad you got them back :

And, I definitely can remember people making that type of suggestion before with dogs who were left out/chained all day and not fed/given water. There's a lot of frustration when people see that stuff going on and animal control does nothing.

my mum did this with her dog gizmo, shes had him 10 years now but he used to belong to her neighbour, he was a puppy when she got him and he was just left chained outside with no food or water and it was the middle of summer poor thing was constantly barking and yelping and rspca wouldn't do anything so my mum took him in. his orriginal owners didn't care they said my had to pay them for him.