Hutch with pregnant guinea pigs dumped
The Scottish SPCA is appealing for information after a hutch with five guinea pigs, two of which are pregnant, was dumped at a country park in East Dunbartonshire.
We were called on Sunday afternoon (25 September) when a member of the public spotted the upside-down hutch and alerted a countryside ranger at Mugdock Country Park in Milngavie.
The ranger rescued four females and one male which had escaped the broken hutch and scattered into nearby bushes.
Scottish SPCA Ambulance Driver Jean MacKay transported the frightened rodents to our Glasgow Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Cardonald, where they have been named Eros, Ruby, Pearl, Jade and Sapphire.
AD MacKay said, "The ranger thinks whoever did this has driven to a quiet area and may have thrown the hutch from their car as it looks like it landed on its roof.
"All of the guinea pigs were out of the hutch when they were found and the poor little things were wet and absolutely terrified. It's very lucky someone spotted them when they did.
"Whoever dumped them hadn't even left any food or water so they wouldn't have survived long if they hadn't been found.
"This was a particularly heartless act which involved two pregnant animals. Abandoning any animal is a very irresponsible thing to do but to just dump them in a remote spot is beyond cruel and we're really keen to speak to whoever owned these guinea pigs."
Abandoning an animal is illegal and anyone found guilty of doing so can be banned from keeping animals for a fixed period or life.
Anyone with information relating to this abandonment is urged to contact our Animal Helpline on 03000 999 999.