Thank you for helping Treasa the one-eyed guinea pig!
3/13/2024
Thank you to those who stepped up for a guinea pig named Treasa!
On March 8, we became aware that our friends at Vegas Friends of Guinea Pig Rescue were asked to take a guinea pig from the primary Las Vegas animal shelter due to a severe medical issue. The shelter indicated, without saying so explicitly, that they didn't plan to offer the medical interventions needed to save the guinea pig's life.
CWI is presently working with VFGPR on creating bans on the sale of guinea pigs throughout the Las Vegas Valley, and we previously fostered and then adopted both Tony the Werewolf (who is now CWI's spokespig for animal testing and domestic animal foster/adoption) and Jellybean (who was rescued from the situation in Arizona in which more than 300 animals were fed to reptiles). So when we saw that VFGPR were in a crisis, we decided to step in. As many of you likely know, small rescues are only ever one emergency away from disaster, and VFGPR had already announced that they were unable to take in more animals.
We were inspired by their kindness and willingness to take on a severely ill guinea pig despite being overwhelmed already and launched an online fundraiser via our Facebook page. Thanks to you, we were able to raise $500 to support the guinea pig, now named Treasa, and help get her the care she needs. Your donations covered the majority of her bill!
At present, Treasa is still trying hard to recover from her ordeal and has been up and down on her healing journey. She is presently "up" so we are hopeful that she will finally leave the vet office today.
Some may wonder, why guinea pigs? Doesn't CWI primarily work on exotic animal issues? Well yes, that's largely correct; however as we've shared previously, guinea pigs ARE exotic animals! Unfortunately, they have gained an undeserved reputation as a throwaway "kids" pet, but they are far from that. Guinea pigs require specialized care and, if properly cared for, live 5+ years and in some instances even make it to 10! That's possibly 10 years of buying veggies, cleaning up 100+ poops a day, lots of laundry, exotic vet care, and the like. Guinea pig care is not for everyone....not for most people, in fact! And not for kids without a parent's involvement as the lead caregiver.
We will update this post when we have more information about Treasa's healing journey! Thank you once again for your support of Treasa and of CWI!
