Foster carers took in more than 100 guinea pigs around Cambridge

RSPCA branches around Cambridge took in a sudden crowd of guinea pigs and are asking foster carers to make room for more. BBC News reported on October 30, 2026, that the charity removed 120 newborn and adult guinea pigs from one home after the numbers grew past what the owner could cope with. The rescue, backed by Woodgreen Pets Charity, was nicknamed Operation Guinea Pig.

Most of the animals were in good health. Four had to be put to sleep. Some stayed with the owner, in same-sex pairs so they would not keep breeding. The Cambridge and District branch took 69. Another 21 went to Milton Keynes and 10 to the South Buckinghamshire branch, with more sent on to other centres. Rosemary Rodd, the Cambridge branch treasurer, said volunteers and fosterers answered a call for help, and that one foster carer had already reported babies. Louise Norman, who runs a small-animal sanctuary and volunteers with the Buckinghamshire RSPCA, said a baby born the day the animals arrived weighed 100 grams and was that mother's only one. She suspects many of the females are pregnant, including some only eight to ten weeks old.

Animal rescue officer Maya Thakrar told the BBC the case was not deliberate cruelty. She described an owner overwhelmed after the animals were not neutered early enough. The charity said it is now seeing an average of 410 incidents a month that involve 10 or more animals, more than in 2025. The guinea pigs will be put up for rehoming once they are ready. The BBC account is this one rescue and the foster appeal that followed. It is not a count of every guinea pig the charity is holding.