Clare Stone 
In 2021 our amazing customers have once again helped us to raise over £2000 for animal welfare charities over the Black Friday weekend. It’s a great total, especially in a year that has been so hard for so many people. The money will be divided equally between six animal welfare charities, chosen by our customers.
We’ve been working with guinea pigs for many years now, so it’s no surprise that there were quite a few deserving charities nominated in this category including Berkshire Animal Hospital, the Happy Pants Ranch and last year’s winner, Cavy Corner.
The guinea pig charity that gained the most votes, and will receive this year’s donation is The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (TEAS) in Northampton and this week we’d like to share a little about the work they are doing, and how our donation will help.
The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary
The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary is a bit different – they specialise in supporting guinea pigs with ongoing medical needs. Giving piggies who might otherwise be put to sleep a normal, happy life along with the ongoing treatment they need.
It started over ten years ago, when Debbie, already a cavy lover, was asked to take in two Lethal Gene baby guinea pigs, who were both born blind and deaf and had dental problems.
Debbie was keen to help but sceptical about whether these piggies could have any quality of life. She took them on the understanding that if she felt they were suffering, she would take them to the vet to be put to sleep.
Debbie couldn’t have been more surprised. The babies – named Bill and Ted – had never experienced sight or hearing, so their world was normal and once the dental problems were sorted they were happy healthy cavies enjoying their lives with regular monitoring from the vet.
This experience got Debbie thinking about all the other guinea pigs who are written off because they seem too poorly. And so the Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (TEAS) began, named in honour of Bill and Ted, but also because Debbie knew that with the right care, many special piggies could go on to have a life that was an Excellent Adventure.
Debbie explains that most of her cavies don’t come to her because they have been neglected or abandoned. Owners are generally very dedicated to their pets: they just can’t offer the specialist care these cavies need.
Many of Debbies cavies have dental issues. These can often be treated quite easily if spotted early but can become complex and serious when left unattended. There are only a tiny number of vets in the UK who specialise in the complex and intricate field of guinea pig dentistry and Debbie has teamed up with one of them.
This means that TEAS are able to offer a future with the appropriate medical care to cavies who might otherwise have had their lives cut short.
TEAS is a registered charity and relies entirely on public donations. Because most of their cavies are with them for life they don’t benefit from the adoption fees that make a big contribution to the income of many sanctuaries.
Debbie and the team usually hold a series of fundraising events throughout the year. But due to the pandemic, the last one they were able to host was Christmas 2019. Just as the cavies they care for come from all over the country, so do supporters for fundraising events and the team at TEAS really miss meeting up with them.
In the meantime, donations like ours come in especially handy and hopefully help to remind Debbie and the team how much the work they do is appreciated.
So a big thank you from all of us here at Home and Roost to the team at The Excellent Adventure for all the work you are doing. We look forward to keeping in touch during 2022 and finding out more about your work.
And if you’d like to keep up to date with the work of TEAS you can follow them on Facebook here.
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