The Knoxville Guinea Pig Rescue is a family run no-kill rescue that opened in June 2001 by Janet A. and her three children. Mrs. Peggy, Amy, Devon, and Lindsey are the current KGPR directors and bring over 50 years of guinea pig experience between the two. Peggy alone has 18 of her own and has been fostering for KGPR for many years. Grady, her husband is affectionately known as the Guinea Pig Whisperer because of his unique talent at socializing guinea pigs. Brianna has 3 piggies of her own and also welcomes permanent fosters into her home. As of January 1, 2014 we have rescued over 1,545 piggies and have adopted out 1,497. We only accept guinea pigs. Many of them had been abandoned at the local animal shelters or pet shops. Most were pets bought for children who eventually lost interest in them well before the end of their 5-8 year (or longer) lifetime. Due to this problem we will adopt as pets for children (over 6) ONLY if an adult is equally interested and realizes that the responsibility for this animal will ultimately be the adults. Many of our animals are adopted as pets for adults.
We require an application and interview to insure our animals go to homes committed to providing a safe, loving, and permanent environment for them. Our adoption contract requires that our animals will not be bred and will be housed indoors in an appropriate cage. Aquariums are not appropriate housing for Guinea Pigs due to the very small floor space and limited air flow. Wire bottom cages are too hard on tender little feet (piggies need to snuggle in soft bedding). They need to be provided with daily fresh water, hay, guinea pig pellets, vitamin C, and fresh fruits and vegetables.