Guinea pig-a-palooza: 100 gather to celebrate their pets

Published 11:45 am Tuesday, March 29, 2016

If you’ve never owned one, a guinea pig can seem like a peculiar pet.

It’s relatively tiny, so you can’t walk or ride it. It doesn’t purr and isn’t as clever as most house cats. And it doesn’t just stay in a bowl all day. 

Guinea pigs are also social creatures, “who crave the company of other pigs,” according to the Humane Society of the United States. This past weekend over 100 guinea pigs, and their owners, gathered for a “pig-a-palooza” in Methuen, Massachusetts.

The event, hosted by the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), was held so that guinea pig owners could show off their pets, learn about proper care, gawk at others, and generally fuss over the small herd of tailless rodents.

Uli Thomann, an MSPCA volunteer, said he helped initiate the event last year to promote guinea pig adoption and help people understand the animals.

“It’s to build awareness about their health care, and about housing,” he explained. “And they need room — about a four-by-three feet space. They need a lot of room.”

Thomann, who was wearing a T-shirt that read, “PART-MAN, PART-GUINEA PIG,” has been a big fan of the creatures for more than a decade.

“In Switzerland, it’s against the law to own only one guinea pig,” Thomann said, in between clipping the nails of pets people had brought with them. “They’re very social.”

The social nature of guinea pigs is a big reason people fall in love with them, several admitted.

Rhonda Jackson, another MSPCA volunteer, said she got hooked more than 20 years ago. “Believe it or not, they all have their own little personalities,” she said. She now owns three, all named after characters from Charles Dickens’ novels. 

Erik Lundquist and Val Toukatly, both 25, of Boston, said a small apartment was the original reason they chose to try a guinea pig pet. Now they have three.

“We were surprised because they have so much personality,” Lundquist said.

For instance, little Napoleon loves people but his two companions, Finn and Patrick, are less so. “Napoleon loves to be petted, loves to be picked up,” Toukatly related. “When you come in the room, he’ll run to you.”

Suzie Culleton of Salem, New Hampshire, said her 10-year-old son Nick has the same kind of close relationship with his black-and-white silky, Oreo.

“He climbs upside the cage and they rub noses every morning,” she said, as Nick smiled.

Dianna Braccini, 11, of Templeton said her two pets — Lucy and Winnie — have their differences. “Lucy is kind of lazy,” Braccini said. “Winnie is more active. She likes to run around a lot.”

Dr. Christine Pelletier of the VCA Wakefield Animal Hospital, in Massachusetts, said those apparent inconsistencies reveal the distinctive personalities of the different guinea pigs.

“They’re these sweet, little innocent things — except that they’re not,” she laughed. “Go look at those males, they’re beating each other up!”

Indeed, in a small caged area, a group of bores seemed to be forming a violent conga line — one behind the other, and harassing one another endlessly.

Still, their warm fur, pudgy little bodies and quirky actions make guinea pigs irresistible to their fans.

“It’s so cute when they stop ‘popcorning,’” said Scharn. “They jump really high.”

“When you open the refrigerator, they make this sound — and it’s like a little kid saying, ‘Oh, please, please, please!” laughed Pelletier.

Carbone is a reporter at The Eagle-Tribune.