Back in 2023, Kavee joined forces with a guinea pig rescue located on the Isle of Wight, run by the pig-expert husband-and-wife duo Tara and Ian. The rescue welcomes guinea pigs in need from the island, giving them medical attention and lots of TLC.
Some of these sweet pigs will then go on and find their furever home or will become permanent residents of the rescue, where they can continue to heal and thrive under the care of Tara and Ian.
Now, we’re celebrating one year of supporting these piggies in need! Let’s have a look at how it all started.
The Pigstory of the Kavee Rescue
2020: Tara and Ian start the rescue under the name ‘Giggle Pigs Rescue’. In the early days, they welcomed just 7 sweet boars into their care but it’s instantly clear that many more piggies will need their help.
Over 3 months of running the rescue, the dynamic duo set up more cages and cleared out 2 bedrooms to make room for more piggies.
2022: This year marks a significant turning point for the Rescue, as they end up welcoming a grand total of 110 piggies! Caring for all of them and covering costs becomes increasingly difficult.
Every single piggy deserves plenty of care and love, and Tara and Ian weren’t going to rest until they could provide it! Luckily, 70 of these lovely pigs managed to find their furever homes.
2023: Kavee partners with the Rescue, giving them access to a bigger platform, offering regular donations and tons of Kavee goodies. This year the rescue welcomes 70 piggies and helps rehome 32 of them!
This is also when Tara and Ian receive £2500 in donations (thanks to our brilliant Kommunity of piggy pawrents!) which covers the cost of buying a large-capacity washing machine and tumble dryer (as you can imagine, this many piggies go through a lot of liners!).
The rest of the donations go towards purchasing fans to keep the pigs cool during the summer season and to pay for smaller items like bottles and medical supplies. Anything left after that went to cover any vet bills!
Now: Currently, the Kavee Rescue is looking after 81 guinea pigs (24 sows and 57 boars). A recurring issue that the rescue has noticed is the number of sows that get adopted and given up as soon as they’re pregnant, leaving a mum piggy and her babies without a furever home where to grow and thrive!
Thankfully, last year the rescue only welcomed 2 pregnant sows and 3 baby piggies (who all found their furever home), but this just highlights the importance of neutering and spaying piggies when adopting them.
What does it take to run a Guinea Pig Rescue?
The Kavee Rescue tends to welcome between 70 to 90 piggies, which doesn’t come without a cost! In one year, the rescue piggies munch through 1500kg of hay, 650kg nuggets, and £3000 worth of fresh veggies.
On top of that, Tara and Ian end up washing and refilling 13,440 bottles of water and spend about £1200 a year to dispose of their waste with a private company (as it’s far too much for the local council to take away!).
Behind the scenes of the Kavee Rescue
Back in December of 2023, our Krew went to the Isle of Wight to meet Tara, Ian, and all the pawsome piggies at the Rescue. They embarked on this journey with plenty of Kavee goodies like our soft fleece liners, handy potty pads, and tasty treat trays.
We took this opportunity to learn more about everyday life at the rescue, and what caring for 80 piggies really entails. Dinner time was something else! As soon as Tara began chopping the veggies and hay piled up in the hallway, you could hear a chorus of wheeks erupt across the rooms. Have a little peek at what our Krew was up to during this time:
In the 3 days spent with Tara and Ian, our Krew helped out with cleaning the rooms of the girl piggies and boy piggies (which, as you can imagine, can get quite messy!). We also sat down with Tara to film some educational content for our Kommunity (that you can now find on our YouTube channel and Instagram).
Many how-to videos were filmed on all kinds of popular topics such as cutting piggy nails, bathing piggies, sexing the piggies, spotting the differences between neutered and unneutered boars, and so on. The piggies were true movie stars and patiently let us film everything (with only a few projectile pee incidents here and there!).
The Rescue Piggies
Over the year, we’ve been sharing stories of the sweet piggies that have made the Kavee rescue their home, whether temporary or permanent. You can read about them and browse through some kute pics on @kaveerescue or check out the stories we shared on our blog:
Like the golden oldies who have become permanent residents at the Rescue, the story of Jude and Ollie who stayed with Tara and Ian until they found their furever homes, and the special friendship of Pumpkin and Reuben who found each other at a time of need.
All of those incredible stories and improvements at the Rescue wouldn’t have been possible without the great support of the Kavee Kommunity. As you can see, your donations make a huge difference!
You can keep supporting the rescue by donating here - anything raised now will go towards covering the costs of the many expensive vet bills. While if you’re interested in learning more about the Rescue and adoption process, check out our FAQ page here.
