One of the many weird things you will learn about me here is my fascination with odd looking animals. One such creature is the Guinea Pig. Since my childhood I have wanted to have my very own squeaking, jellybean of a pet, and for Valentine’s Day, my husband (who knows me very well) got me my very own. It turns out however, that you cannot have just one, or at least you shouldn’t and in a very odd series of events I went from one guinea pig to three, but that’s a very long story. For the purposes of this, what you need to know is guinea pigs are hilarious and entertaining and they have led me to meet some awesome people and attend some very interesting events.
I was going to explain that I do not own any costumes and that this hat was there for me to use, but let’s be honest, it’s only because I hadn’t found a hat in her size.
One of those people is Jenn Paz, founder of Coastside Cavy and Director of North Star Rescue. Jenn is an awesome lady who rescues guinea pigs and other small animals and helped me get my family of rescued pigs together. When she invited me to a “Guinea Pignic” fundraiser I knew this was something I needed to attend and when she told me there would be a bakesale, I knew I had to get involved.
Before I tell you more, I should probably explain what a “Pignic” is? Picture a dog park outing, now remove all the dogs, insert guinea pigs. Are you having fun yet? This hilarious event is just as amazing as it sounds and I haven’t even told you about the veggie eating contest or the costume contest. Also, it’s all for a good cause – event and raffles tickets were sold all to benefit the rescue as well as a bake sale – which leads me to why we are here. Guinea pig cookies!
So yes, when making cookies for a guinea pignic, I considered many options, I could go with veggies, guinea pigs love their veggies, but vegetables aren’t very cute, I could make picnic items, but that doesn’t do justice to the event, so really the only logical choice is to recreate the stars of the day.
Guinea pigs come in so many colors and combinations that I decided to make just a couple of simple shapes and focus on the designs. The fun part is there is no right or wrong, guinea pigs are all different and unique. I chose a few of the common colors and then had fun with the patterns. In honor of my piggies I made some with crazy hair and in the orange, black and white and black and white patterns.
The cookies sold out, the guinea pigs had a wonderful time making friends and eating their weight in vegetables, I saw a guinea pig dressed like a fairy princess, money was raised to help the piggies, all in all it was a good day.
Stay tuned this week for tips on throwing your very own guinea pig party!
One final note: I realize that I glossed over the whole aspect of guinea pig rescue which might be a new concept to many who regularly see guinea pigs at the pet store. It may seem strange to think of rescuing a small animal, but I assure you it’s just as important as rescuing dogs and cats. Many people consider small animals “disposable” pets, they buy them at the pet store for their kids and use them to see if their kid is responsible enough to handle a dog, or to fill their children’s wishes until they lose interest and then they drop them off at a shelter or rescue. If you are ever considering getting a guinea pig or any small animal as a pet, please consider visiting your shelter or do a search for a local rescue. There are many great piggies available for adoption of all ages, shapes, sizes types and colors – many of the ones I have seen in the rescues are actually more unique than the ones at many pet stores. Also when you rescue, you will get all the best information on how to care for your new friends and will have a resource to go to if you ever need help.
More Cookies for Rescue: Muttville Senior Dog Cookies>>
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