First Guinea Pig Awareness Week Announced

UK: The UK’s first Guinea Pig Awareness Week (GPAW) will be held from 22 – 28 March. The inaugural event aims to spotlight the UK’s guinea pigs’ welfare needs in a week-long online festival.

With a slew of events and online content sharing platforms, the GPAW initiative will also allow veterinarians to share their expert knowledge and insight with owners.

Created by Burgess Pet Care in partnership with the RSPCA, Wood Green The Animals Charity, Blue Cross and PDSA in the UK, it started when Burgess ran online surveys with guinea pig owners and vets. Results showed that some 94 percent of vets felt that the most common mistake owners of small animals make is feeding them the wrong diet.

Suzanne Moyes, operations and technical director at Burgess Pet Care, said: “Guinea pigs are always a popular choice of pet – particularly for families – but the survey results show a clear lack of understanding around their particular welfare needs.

FormoreinformationonGPAW: https://www. facebook.com/guineapigawarenessweek