BRYAN, Texas — When considering adoptable pets from the Aggieland Humane Society, the average person probably doesn't think about guinea pigs. But Miss Piggy and her newborn pup Kermit were a miracle.
Mama Piggy and two other adult guinea pigs were found by animal control officers at the H-E-B Jones Crossing shopping center in College Station late last month. When the piggies were brought to shelter staff, a great surprise showed up the next day.
“We’re used to kittens and puppies being born in our care, but this was the first time for me seeing a baby guinea pig being born!" exclaimed shelter staffer Savannah Gaines.
Kermit was born to Miss Piggie just two days after intake, and now the shelter had four new mouths to feed. Thankfully, fosters stepped right up to help.
“It’s actually pretty frequent that we get a pig, or a chicken or goat, a duck even - not just cats and dogs," said shelter staffer Ashley Quick.
The guinea pigs are in foster care and will be up for adoption just as soon as two-week-old baby Kermit is weaned off his mama.
The shelter’s been lucky with these guinea pigs, in that it hasn’t been hard to find space and resources for the small animals. Currently, however, the shelter is experiencing a lack of donations due to the recent nationwide inflation. They’ve been struggling to care for this season’s influx of dogs and kittens.
“So right now we do have a lot of cats and kittens in foster care, and we do have a lot of dogs that need homes," Gaines said. "We definitely are at a high capacity level where we are working with other programs to make sure our dogs aren’t in the shelter, whether it be through training programs or transfers.”
While unique pets like Kermit and Miss Piggy draw lots of attention on social media, there are plenty of cats and dogs who have been at the shelter without interest for months.
The shelter hopes that the public will still pay attention to some of their longest residents, as well as the rodent residents. To donate, volunteer, foster or adopt, visit aggielandhumane.org.