PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS — An animal rescue group rounded up nearly 30 guinea pigs in Prospect Park over the weekend and is now trying to find homes for the abandoned pets.
Sean Casey Animal Rescue got a call on Saturday morning from someone who said they had spotted a cardboard box full of guinea pigs just inside the park near Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road, said SCAR volunteer Princess Clare.
Workers with the rescue group spent more than two hours wrangling the fur balls into carriers and eventually tracked down a total of 27 guinea pigs, Clare said. A video on the SCAR Facebook page shows the guinea pigs scampering in the underbrush.
We got a call this morning about approximately 25 guinea pigs in boxes on Ocean ave outside of Prospect park. When we arrived we found somebody had dumped the boxes and released the pigs into the woods in Prospect park. It took over two hours but we caught them all. We now have 27 Guinea pigs in need of homes.
Posted by Sean Casey Animal Rescue on Saturday, May 9, 2015
The animals — including at least one baby and one larger size guinea pig weighing about 1.5 to two pounds — are now available for adoption at the SCAR shelter on E. Third Street off Fort Hamilton Parkway in Kensington. They cost $10 each.
"They got pretty lucky," Clare said of the herd.
Though it's illegal to leave animals in the park, it's sometimes used as dumping ground for abandoned pets such as ducks and rabbits.
Guinea pigs are "calm and docile, but still make lively pets," especially for children old enough for the responsibility of caring for them, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The small rodents, which are native to South America, "are vocal when excited and will make a variety of sounds when they see their favorite people or when the fridge door is opened," according to the ASPCA.
