Shropshire guinea pig rescue centre sees influx of pets

Caroline Crute said, since Christmas, she had seen as many rescue animals as she would in a year

The woman behind a guinea pig sanctuary said she had seen an increase in people giving up their pets.

Caroline Crute, who runs the rescue centre in Tern Hill near Market Drayton said many are being forced to hand over their animals due to the rising costs of living.

She said since Christmas she had received 15 guinea pigs - as many as she would normally see in a year.

Many people, she said, had not wanted to part with their pets.

Ms Crute said her sanctuary started as she had pets of her own and some people began giving them to her when they could not look after them.

In all, she now has 54 guinea pigs.

"What I am seeing at the moment is there is a lot of people coming to me because they can't afford, or they have had to relocate due to financial situations, so they can't take the pigs with them," she said.

"I take them in and they stay here.

"I've had people crying as they are handing them over because they just don't want to part with them."

In total, Caroline Crute has 54 animals

She said she often sent people updates on how their pets were doing so they could keep in contact.

"I am terrified that come April-May time there is going to be animals dumped, because they have nowhere to go," she said.

"It is quite scary to be honest, because people love their animals, they don't want to part with them. But when you have a choice between feeding your family, heating your home and a pet, unfortunately the decision has to be the pet to leave.

"It is very difficult for people."