More than 80 guinea pigs and rabbits rescued from Bognor Regis garden after animals 'bred out of control'

RSPCA officers visited the Bognor Regis home on August 9 after a concerned member of the public saw two guinea pigs up for sale online.

Officers found 45 guinea pigs and 38 rabbits living in dirty and overcrowded conditions without sufficient food and hay. While all of the rabbits were found in a healthy condition, the guinea pigs had mite infestation - and three have since been euthanised, the charity said.

The discovery emerged when a member of the public contacted the RSPCA after responding to an online post offering a pair of guinea pigs for sale.

RSPCA inspector Rebecca Carter said: “This shows perfectly the problems you get when owners don’t get on top of the situation, and how quickly things can spiral out of control. The owner had started with two rabbits, but didn’t realise one was male and the other female, and soon there were many more.

“The numbers of guinea pigs had grown for several reasons; the owner’s friends left guinea pigs with her and she had also bred some litters, It is much harder to rehome male guinea pigs, so she had been left with so many which made up most of the guinea pigs found on the property.

“The conditions were wet, dirty and cramped -and weren't helped by the rapid escalation in animals. Things had got totally out of control.

“We needed to take these animals to ensure they receive better care in new homes. Rabbits breed very quickly and can do so from 12 weeks. Females are very fertile as was illustrated when we found a female rabbit with two different litters lying on top of each other.

“The owner was really upset that things had escalated and was trying to get the numbers of animals down. We are working with her now to reduce the numbers further.”

The RSPCA has urged rabbit owners to prevent the growth of unwanted litters by neutering and sexing their pets after the charity fielded a big 48 per cent rise in the numbers arriving at its animal centres and branches last year.

Branch manager Jenny Eden said: “Most of the rabbits are quite young, while the guinea pigs, who are mainly boys, range from a few weeks to one who is four years old.

“We will neuter them and find them good homes. We have been inundated with rabbits in recent times and space really is at a premium, but we have sorted out some temporary housing on site to make sure these bunnies and guinea pigs will have a comfortable stay while they are with us.

“This shows why it is important to neuter your pets. No-one can possibly look after this number of animals, although it is fair to say that this isn’t a typical case of animal hoarding.”

Anyone interested in adopting any of the guinea pigs and rabbits in the care of the Sussex branch will need to fill in a perfect match form via the branch’s website here: rspca-brighton.org.uk/animals/