A Marana animal sanctuary is searching for answers after more than two dozen of its guinea pigs were taken one night.
Twenty-five of the small, furry rodents were taken from the rescue on Sept. 23, and deputies are looking for two female persons of interest, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
But Monique Sainz, who sits on the board for the Lidtke Small Animal Foundation, said she suspects more people were involved. The intruders broke through two large doors at about 1:30 a.m. before covering up all of the cameras in the area. The pet cameras only record in real time and don’t actually save the video, Sainz said.
In addition to taking the guinea pigs, they wrote obscenities and a racial slur on the whiteboard, leading Sainz to believe it could be a hate crime.
The rescue takes in guinea pigs that are health impaired, and most of the stolen guinea pigs had health problems. Many of them need to be on specialized diets or medications, Sainz said. She also said she has no idea why someone would need or want to take that many guinea pigs.
The sanctuary was in the process of relocating to Phoenix when the guinea pigs were stolen. There were about 100 guinea pigs, although most had already been moved. The 25 that were stolen were waiting for the final vet clearance allowing them to travel, Sainz said.
“We’re pretty devastated that somebody took it upon themselves to grab all of these guinea pigs and take off with them, just because they’re really fragile,” Sainz said.
The ones that couldn’t make it to Phoenix were going to remain in Marana, Sainz said. But that’s why the sanctuary is even more worried about the survival of the guinea pigs.
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The rescue had two big boxes used to transport bedding for the guinea pigs. Both of those boxes were emptied and gone, which led Sainz to believe the intruders likely shoved all of the guinea pigs into the two boxes.
“We’re trying to figure out the motive behind it. But most importantly, we’re just trying to find who did this. It just doesn’t seem logical why somebody would do that,” Sainz said.
The house is currently empty, and Sainz said the sanctuary’s next steps are to continue moving forward with taking care of the remaining guinea pigs in Phoenix.
Sainz said everyone at the sanctuary is heartbroken, especially her, since she was with the guinea pigs every day.
“We just want the guinea pigs back. They were just really medically sensitive,” Sainz said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said anyone with information about the case can call 911 or 88-Crime (520-882-7463) to remain anonymous.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Guinea pigs stolen from animal sanctuary in Marana, Arizona