Northumberland woman sets up guinea pig rescue Wheekwood Sanctuary to provide safe home for abandoned pets

Rebecca Wilkins set up Wheekwood Sanctuary at the beginning of February, aiming to provide a safe and compassionate rescue service for guinea pigs before they transition to loving homes.

Rebecca, who has been rescuing guinea pigs since 2017, combined her love for the animals with her passion for rescuing – after also being director of a dog rescue CIC.

She said: “It felt like a natural progression to set up a rescue of my own, there’s nobody in the area that has a specific knowledge of guinea pigs because it is a bit niche. I thought I’d give it a go and see if it’s needed and I’m actually full already.”

"It’s really special, especially with guinea pigs who haven’t really been looked after properly as you see them thrive and get to know their personalities.”

Rebecca explained many guinea pigs can be abandoned or put on websites for free when families get fed up of them. This can lead to them then being used as food for other animals, such as snakes.

“People buy guinea pigs for children thinking they are easy pets and they’re not,” she explained.

“Children can get pretty bored of them because they aren’t like dogs and cats where you can build a relationship with them really quickly and play with them the same day you bring them home. They take a long time to build trust and you have to be be patient.”

Wheekwood Sanctuary already has six volunteers who have come forward to help care for the animals, and has set up a GoFundMe and Amazon wish list to deal with costs.

She added: “I am chuffed to bits because people seem to be wanting to get involved and are excited about it. It’s also just a lovely thing to be involved in, looking after little tiny fur babies.

“We've had a great response. I even got a bale of hay from farmers which was amazing, its been lovely having the support, it makes such a difference.”

Rebecca recommends that people do thorough research when taking home a guinea pig – information which can be found on her website.