Amy Roberts spent the days leading up to her Sunday wedding clipping nails, treating mites, and finding foster homes for 46 guinea pigs she rescued from horrific conditions after an owner was evicted from a house in Loughborough, Leicestershire. The co-director of Mansfield Guinea Pig Rescue in Nottinghamshire had promised herself she wouldn’t take in any more animals before her big day to minimize stress, but when she saw photos of guinea pigs living in cages so full of filth they couldn’t leave their sleeping quarters, she knew there was no way she could leave them behind. Roberts and her colleague Maria Kirkham arrived at the property to find malnourished animals covered in mites, many wandering freely among cats, suffering from feet and lung infections caused by the unbearable conditions they’d endured. The smell was so overwhelming that Roberts felt like she couldn’t breathe properly for an entire day after leaving the house, and she was heartbroken by what she witnessed.
The 34-year-old bride and her partner had to improvise with numerous crates and animal carriers to transport all the animals, then spent the next several days treating them, arranging emergency vet visits, and desperately searching for foster homes while preparing for her own wedding. At least one guinea pig will require eye removal surgery, and Roberts predicts the total vet bill will reach $4,000 including neutering the males, prompting the rescue center to appeal for donations. A friend stepped in to care for the approximately 35 guinea pigs still in Roberts’ shed and home on her actual wedding day so she could focus on getting married. Despite the absolute chaos and exhaustion the rescue added to an already stressful week, Roberts said she knew her wedding day would be okay, but the reality for those guinea pigs was that they weren’t going to be okay without immediate intervention, proving that sometimes the greatest acts of love happen when we choose compassion over convenience.
