New Home For Hopatcong Guinea Pig After Former Owner Was Caught On Camera Abandoning Him

HOPATCONG, NJ — A lesson has been learned in the case of a caged Guinea Pig who was abandoned this past week in front of a Hopatcong home, before he was found and turned over to the Hopatcong Animal Shelter.

The case of “Marbles," now in his new "furever home," left Hopatcong Animal Shelter perplexed.

On Sept. 7 - the day after Labor Day - a resident contacted them after finding the Guinea Pig mysteriously out in a cage in their front yard, with neither food nor water, some limited supplies and a handwritten note from the person who evidently dropped him off there.

The homeowner did have one clue as to how Marbles made his way there, when their Ring camera picked up activity at about 4:40 a.m. that day that Marbles’ former owner left him there in the dark on Larson Trail.

With that evidence in hand, Hopatcong Animal Shelter reached out to their social media following and posted the video, asking for help in locating Marbles' owner.

The shelter also posted a photo of Marbles, along with the note left for his care.

As a result, the shelter shared on Thursday that a member of the public identified Marbles’ former owner on the video; and Hopatcong’s Humane Law Enforcement Officer is investigating the case.

“As adults sometimes we make bad decisions,” the shelter wrote. Decisions in the moment we think are rational but are not.”

“Abandoning an animal is never OK to do,” they also stated. “There are hundreds of shelters out there with doors open willing to help, with zero questions asked and $0 surrender fee.”

The shelter advocated that owners need to ask for help and can find it at shelters without judgment, stating they posted the video to find the owner and show them that the story could have ended badly for such a fragile creature, with temperatures even between 60 and 70 degrees potentially leading to sickness or death for a Guinea Pig.

“Thankfully, this story ended on a positive note,” the shelter concluded. “A life lesson was learned and the Guinea Pig is now off to his new 'furever' home.”

For more information about the Hopatcong Animal Shelter and the pets found or up for adoption, visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Hopatconganimalshelter.

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