In a modest converted office in Salisbury, Massachusetts, roughly 40 miles north of Boston, cages rise from floor to ceiling, packed with squeaking, purring guinea pigs. On most days the population runs between 350 and 400 animals, making the operation, known simply as the Guinea Pig Sanctuary, one of only a handful of U.S. rescues devoted solely to the small, often-overlooked rodents.
Kimie Smothermon runs it. She takes intake calls from across the country — 11 guinea pigs from Illinois one week, seven from Texas the next, 97 arriving at once from a single case in New York. Volunteers spend their days cleaning cages, checking on sick animals and squeezing past each other in the crowded space to keep pace with an abandonment problem that shelters say has worsened as pet stores keep selling guinea pigs to owners unprepared for their needs.
If I don't get up, they don't eat and they can die. So even though it's not a choice, I have to.
Kimie Smothermon, founder, the Guinea Pig Sanctuary
A Rescue Born From Loss
The sanctuary traces to a single pet: Smothermon's grandson Alex brought home a guinea pig at 12, and the family slowly became an informal refuge for animals no one else wanted. They ran the rescue from their New Hampshire home until a 2019 house fire killed Alex, two family dogs and dozens of guinea pigs, a tragedy reported by the Associated Press that nearly ended the operation before it relocated to Massachusetts.
Volunteer Janet Woodman said the animals repay the effort in quieter ways. "They're very sensitive animals," she said, "probably the best therapy animal next to a horse." Guinea pigs, native to South America and domesticated around 5000 B.C., are social animals that require paired housing and cannot be kept in isolation — one reason shelters often receive them in large groups when owners give up. The sanctuary offers adoption, boarding and rehoming services, relying on volunteer labor and donations to keep pace with a caseload showing no sign of shrinking.
