SAN ANTONIO — It's something you don't see every day.
A Facebook user posted a picture on the social media site showing three guinea pigs dumped at a park on San Antonio's east side.
Their rescue was caught on camera.
KENS 5 learned this incident is part of a growing problem in the state.
Animal rescue experts say since the pandemic, more people are surrendering their pets. When many hear this news, they most often think of cats and dogs.
What most don't know is this problem includes guinea pigs.
"I was on my way," said Destiny Vanzandt, an animal rescue advocate and TikTok creator, upon receiving an unusual text message over the weekend.
Vanzandt didn't hesitate for a second when she got this text from a local animal rescue Saturday asking her to save three guinea pigs.
"About an hour they were out there by themselves," she explained.
The guinea pigs were spotted in J Street Park off Pecan Valley Drive.
"I saw the box and I was like, people bring animals in boxes," said Vanzandt. "We start walking towards the table and that's when I saw there were three guinea pigs underneath the table."
Vanzandt filmed the rescue and posted the video on TikTok, which now has more than 114,000 views.
"They were fighting. They did not get along with each other," said Vanzandt. "They were pretty scabbed up."
Just like dumping cats or dogs classifies as animal cruelty, experts say that law applies to this incident, too. Domesticated guinea pigs can't be returned to the wild.
"Cruelty that's actually a case of, because they can be killed and destroyed by dogs. They can be killed by birds of prey," said Diana Sandlin, Founder & CEO of the non-profit Second Chance Cavy Rescue, who added that the animals can't last more than an hour outside in scorching temperatures.
Sandlin says more people are giving up their guinea pigs. She's getting 4 to 5 calls for surrenders every day. Some callers will drop off multiple guinea pigs at her door.
"People just get them with no education, no research and not really looking into it, saying, 'Oh that's really cute! Let's get a couple of those!'" Sandlin explained.
Sandlin says another contributor to more guinea pig surrenders is the pandemic. She says people are still hurting from losing their jobs and homes.
These animals, she says, breed very easily too. That makes it even more difficult to control their population. Rehoming guinea pigs can also take up to a year in some cases.
"Texas has also a very overrun population with guinea pigs," she added.
Small animal rescues like Second Chance Cavy are few and far between. Right now, Sandlin has at least 50 guinea pigs up for adoption.
The need for fosters and adopters is critical for these guinea pigs. For this reason, Second Chance Cavy Rescue does meet and greets every Saturday at Lockhill Feed off Huebner where you can adopt or foster these piggies.
Like all animal rescues, Second Chance Cavy Rescue could always use more volunteers and foster families. To learn more, visit this website.