A Chatsworth farm is swarming with guinea pigs and its owners are hoping you’ll take a few of them off their hands.



“We are bursting out at the seams right now,” said Saskia Chiesa, director of the Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue.

Chiesa said Humboldt County animal control officers called them two weeks ago, asking for help on a hoarding case. They told her a man had amassed about 300 guinea pigs he couldn’t care for. When Chiesa arrived at the man’s home, she said there were more than double that amount of the animals.

“We counted 700 guinea pigs and they were everywhere,” she said. “On the floor, outside, in the yard. There were kiddie pools stacked with guinea pigs, and it was just really not a good situation.”

Chiesa and her staff treated as many of the animals as possible, but were only able to take 411 females, 80 percent of which are estimated to be pregnant.

Over the past two weeks, she said the guinea pig population at her shelter has already grown to 700, with more births every day.

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