The Pipsqueakery

The Pipsqueakery has outgrown its current home so it’s time for us to move and build our own facility! From the start The Pipsqueakery has always been in our home, but it’s time for The Pipsqueakery to grow up and move out because frankly we are out of room! 

On Monday September 30th we closed on a piece of property that will allow us to do all of that! It’s situated on 109 acres of beautiful wooded forest that is owned by my family and we (Alex and Jason) own a portion of that land with plenty of space to build The Pipsqueakery! Don’t worry, we will also live on the land like 30 feet away, but this fundraiser is only for The Pipsqueakery. 

We are near capacity (we usually care for 100 to 150 small animals at a time, most with special needs and rescue 400+ a year) and it’s time for The Pipsqueakery to have a facility of its own so we can save even more animals and offer more services to the public! We plan to start building in the early spring of 2020 to give us enough time to fundraise and find the perfect people to help us create a haven for small animals.  Of course, building a facility is expensive even when we are already providing the land so this is where you all come in!

I’m estimating that it will cost a minimum of $275,000 to build a facility that gives us room to grow to serve the animals and community, and we currently have $31,775 saved to go towards our facility so we need to raise another $243,225! Here’s how this breaks down:

Land: Alex and Jason own it already so we are good!

Structure: We are planning to build a 5,000 square foot building to accommodate all of the animals, administrative and fundraising activities, space for intakes, space for a mini-hospital/clinic for the animals, storage, space for classes and activities for the public, and so much more! We have a rough floor plan that you can see below. I’ve received estimates from several companies for erecting a building of this size and to get a well insulated steel building with a solid concrete pad we are looking at $160,000 to $175,000 with the best priced companies.

Electric: Conservatively it should cost around $25,000 to wire the place appropriately 

Plumbing: While this is a huge facility we are hoping to keep plumbing around $15,000 to $20,000 since we will need a bathroom, laundry, a kitchenette, and probably 2 to 3 other sinks in the facility. 

HVAC: I don’t think we can get away with spending less than $25,000 on the HVAC system in our facility. We really need a solid system that will keep the animals are consistent temperatures with all of the species sensitive to temperatures that we care for!

So, getting the structure up and semi-functional is looking like it will cost approximately $245,000 which leaves approximately $30,000 for finishing the inside of the facility with, you know, things like walls, lights, appliances. This is likely not enough if we had to hire someone but we are hoping that we can do much of this ourselves. Unfortunately things like pouring concrete, erecting a steel building, plumbing, HVAC, and major electric just aren’t in our wheelhouse and our mistakes would likely be more costly than what we could save on labor. 

You may wonder why we aren’t trying to build smaller initially to reduce the cost, but The Pipsqueakery is already outgrowing 3,000 square feet and we don’t want to get this finished just to find out that we immediately need to start building again. Plus, the surrender requests continue to flood in and we just don’t have space for all of them, but we want to!

So, please take a moment to donate here on our gofundme, or if you’re looking for other ways to donate check out linktr.ee/the_pipsqueakery  because even $1 can make a big difference in the small lives we save! If you’re a contractor, an electrician, have experience with construction, a plumber, an HVAC expert, or really have any of the skills we will need to build and want to donate your time and expertise shoot us an email at [email redacted]!

As part of this fundraiser we are offering naming rights for donors. This means that donors at certain levels have the chance to choose names for everything including the whole facility, the hospital room, or even a critter enclosure. The naming rights are first come first served which means that, for example, when a donor donates $1,000 I will send them a message to ask what they would like to name in the $1,000 tier and then edit this to indicate which naming rights are still available. When someone names a room or enclosure I will make a sign with input from the donor.

So, here’s what you could name after your beloved pet, a beloved human, or even yourself!

$50,000
The Facility: For a tax deductible $50,000 donation you can name the whole facility! For example, it could be something like “The Pipsqueakery’s Jane Doe Rescue Center” or “The Pipsqueakery’s Jane Doe Memorial Rescue Center.” Of course, the “Jane Doe” would be where you could insert a name of your choice. I guess you could also name it something like “The PIpsqueakery’s Super Duper Awesomesauce Totally Rad Rescue Center,” but isn’t that a little long?

$5,000
Main Room: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the main room of The Pipsqueakery! This will be a large room in the rescue center that can be used for boring things like meetings or packing up auction orders, but will also be used for awesome community education events! We are hoping to do lots of fun things like hands-on events to teach people things like how to groom their rabbit or how to trim their guinea pig’s nails. We expect this room to be the place where people learn and grow as pet owners and animal lovers, and you can have a hand in that by naming it!

Treatment Room: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name our hospital room! The hospital room will be where we will care for our sick Pipsqueakery residents. Because we take in so many special needs animals I have always considered the hospital room to be the heart of The Pipsqueakery. It’s where critically ill animals get oxygen, stay in The Astrid or Kristoff Memorial ICU, or get life saving fluids. The hospital room saves lives and makes our very loved residents comfortable no matter what stage of life they are at. Isn’t that a legacy you want to have a part in naming?

Kitchen: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the kitchen! The kitchen is where we mix our custom hamster food, make gallons of gourmet critical care (seriously, Jason is basically a 5 star critical care chef), wash and store tons of dishes, keep medications for animals currently on them, and so so much more. This is the room that keeps the Pipsqueakery residents fed and watered and naming it would be pretty cool.

Intake and Quarantine Room: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the intake and quarantine room. The intake and quarantine room might be one of the most important rooms at The Pipsqueakery. It’s the first stop for any animal who is surrendered and for some of them it’s the first place they will ever feel safe. This room will need to be on a separate air supply and will likely have a separate entrance so that we can ensure the safety of all of The Pipsqueakery residents. Sometimes when animals are surrendered they are in very bad shape. They might have mites, lice, or a contagious respiratory infection. In a rescue setting a contagious illness or parasite can be a disaster because it can spread so quickly. Having a separate intake and quarantine room where new animals can safely live until they are cleared is incredibly important to keeping everyone safe. Plus, having this room will allow us to continue to do large intakes like the Florida Fiasco, the Dwarf Debacle, or the Herd of Piggalos!

Guinea Pig Room: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the whole darn guinea pig room! It's our second largest animal room, but we did promise the guinea pigs we would only use half walls to make their room since it would just be too sad for them if we couldn't hear their constant singing.

Large Rodent Room: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the room for our rodents of unusual size. This room will house Steve, Rowan, and honestly, probably Ducky.

Large Rabbit Room: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the large rabbit room. This room is actually the largest animal room in the entire facility, It will house the large rabbit enclosure for the majority of our rabbits and 6 permanent pens for sanctuary rabbits who will not be able to integrate with the larger group for whatever reason.

Memorial Garden [Claimed]: The Memorial Garden will be named Maybelle’s Memorial Garden. For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the memorial garden we will have on the property. The memorial garden will be beautifully landscaped with a variety of perennials and ornamental trees. This garden will serve as the resting place for all who pass at The Pipsqueakery and we hope to open it to the public as a place where people can donate to bury their beloved pets or spread their ashes. It will serve as a quiet place to sit and remember those we have loved and lost, and reflect on how they have changed our lives.

Vegetable Garden: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the vegetable garden! The vegetable garden is where we will grow all sorts of yummy produce for the critters (though I can’t promise I won’t snack from there sometimes too). While I am sure we will still have to buy produce sometimes having a nice large garden to grow our own will cut down on food expenses in the long run and allow us to make sure our residents are eating the healthiest produce available.

Office: For a tax deductible donation of $5,000 you can name the office. So, I know we have to have an office. There’s just too much paperwork, merch, shipping, and administrative tasks that have to be done and currently I just live with piles of papers on the couch or put them in the “filing box” (AKA the box where I toss papers and receipts and then madly dig through to find what I need). I would like to say that the office in The Pipsqueakery will be an awesome and totally exciting room for everyone, but honestly it’s just one of those absolute necessities that probably only I will be ecstatic about. I kinda hope someone will give it a cool name though. Maybe the bat cave? Except not since bats aren’t rodents.


$2,000
Exam Room: For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the exam room! This exam room will be the first stop for any animal coming into our rescue to determine if they can go straight to our quarantine room, need a stop in medical quarantine, or need to be rushed to the vet via our hambulance.

Adoption Room: For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the adoption room! This room will be right off of the exam room and the intake/quarantine room so that when adopters want to bring their pet to pick out a friend we can do that safely without exposing the sanctuary animals to unknown animals! It's going to be awesome and I'm super excited for this space!

Recovery Room: For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the recovery room! This recovery room is attached to the treatment room and will be the room where animals that need a calm and quiet space to recover can stay. This will also likely be the room where 24/7 supportive care is administered.

Surgery room: For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the surgery room! While this room will not be fully operational immediately our wonderful vet on our board would like a space where she can provide low cost spays and neuters and other treatment to the animals in our care. Apparently having a totally separate room for this is the way to go because it will help keep things clean and sterile.

Large Guinea Pig Enclosure [claimed]: Our large guinea pig enclosure will be named for Heart of Ohio Guinea Pig Rescue! For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the large guinea pig enclosure in the guinea pig room! It will honestly take up most of the room, but gotta fit some other piggie cages in there also! Our herd of special needs guinea pigs is at nearly 50 right now and the requests to take more unadoptable piggies just keep coming! If you’re a huge guinea pig lover this may be the one for you!

Medical Quarantine/potential future Radiograph Room: For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the medical quarantine/future radiograph room! Initially this room will be the room for medical quarantine. However, the vet on our board hopes that we will be able to provide radiographs here at some point because we want to be able to provide at least basic veterinary care on site.

Large Rabbit Enclosure: For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the large rabbit enclosure. This rabbit enclosure is intended for our large group of rabbits with dental disease and will allow them to live in a large herd enjoying their time playing and cuddling. While these rabbits are not adoptable because of the expensive and extensive specialist care they require they are overall healthy and active rabbits that need lots of space to run and binky.

Pantry [Claimed]: The pantry will be named Pita’s Pantry in honor of Pawlove’s duprasi Pita. For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the pantry! The pantry is where we keep all the food and treats we need at The Pipsqueakery, and let me tell you, it’s a lot of food and treats.

Storage Room [claimed]: The storage room will be named "Room of Requirement," and featue an illustration with Dominó wearing a scarf in Hufflepuff colors thanks to Courtney Z. For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the storage room! Storage is probably one of the most valuable commodities for a rescue. There’s never ever enough of it, and it’s always packed full. I have to admit that I sorta feel like the storage room should be named after one of your favorite little hoarders, um, I mean hamsters, however, whatever you want to name it will be perfect.

Laundry Room: For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the laundry room. Alas, while I’ve never enjoyed doing laundry this is a room that’s going to get a ton of use. Do you know how many loads of laundry animals make each day? Let’s just say, it’s a lot. Plus, having a space dedicated to laundry will be amazing for folding it and I’m hoping we can put lots of storage in here for the many cage liners, hammocks, towels, blankets, and everything else the critters need.

Bathroom [claimed]: The bathroom will be named "Potty Like a Rockstar" by Olivia, Lucy, and Toby! For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the bathroom. I actually took this off the list because who really wants a bathroom named after them? But, I know you all, and I’m pretty sure one of you would totally love this, so you know what, here you go, name that bathroom because it’s pretty much an essential room to have.

The Smallest Animal Room [claimed]: Thanks to Karen E. and Alex H. this room will henceforth be known as Hamsterdam! For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the smallest animal room. No, I don’t mean that the room will be the smallest room. I mean this will be the large room for the smallest critters. This will be where we keep the hamster condos, the mice and gerbil aquariums, and any other little critter in need of a safe place. I have this feeling that someone is going to donate just to give this room a confusing name like “The Rodents of Unusual Size Room” which will just make people think that’s where we keep the capybaras rather than the tiniest critters.

Rabbit Room for Bunnies with Mobility Issues: For a tax deductible donation of $2,000 you can name the rabbit room for bunnies with mobility issues. This room will contain the large group enclosure for mobility buns, and 3 permanent half-wall stalls for small or mobility bunnies who cannot integrate with the other bunnies for whatever reason. The room for mobility bunnies is where we house rabbits with difficulty moving for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we have paralyzed bunnies, bunnies with deformed legs, bunnies missing legs, or elderly bunnies with bad arthritis. Whatever the cause they usually need some special accommodations and we are planning this space for them.

$1,000
The Half Bathroom: For a tax deductible donation of $1,000 you can name the half bathroom! Will it be the top half, or the bottom half? No one knows! Ok, that's not what half bath means at all, but this bathroom definitely needs a name!

The Main Rat Habitat: For a tax deductible donation of $1,000 you can name the rat habitat! While we usually have multiple rat cages at any given point we usually only have one huge rattie habitat for our large group of sanctuary rats and you will now have the chance to name our rat paradise!

Break Area: For a tax deductible donation of $1,000 you can name the break area! This space will have a small comfy couch and chairs for us and volunteers to take a break on. Probably also a TV and maybe a coffee table. If I get a coffee table I probably have to get a coffee machine though which we don't have because neither of us drink coffee.

Photography Space [claimed]: The photography space will be named after my GranJan thanks to a donation by Courtney Z.! For a tax deductible donation of $1,000 you can name our photography space! I’m not sure if this will be a room or a dedicated section of the main open area but either way we need a nice space do some adorable photography. Getting good photos of critters is basically what started The Pipsqueakery and it’s an incredibly important part of marketing, fundraising, and getting animals adopted. We need space to store props, sets, costumes, and set up lighting permanently. Photoshoots are really really time consuming if you have to set-up and tear down everything every single time and it’s why we do a lot fewer of them these days. I would love to be able to change that or even do the occasional photo shoot for the public’s pets but we need a space for it.

The Bachelor Pad Guinea Pig Enclosure [claimed]: The naming rights of this enclosure have been claimed by Janice H. For a tax deductible donation of $1,000 you can name the guinea pig enclosure for unneutered male piggies. This enclosure usually has a couple of special needs guinea pigs waiting to be neutered so they can join the large herd. It also might house a guinea pig who can’t be neutered for medical reasons. This bachelor pad will have to be plenty large and likely will need to be able to be divided into multiple spaces to accommodate our bachelor piggies.

Chinchilla Habitat #1: The naming rights of this enclosure have been claimed by Laurie D. and will be called "Coco's Cottage." For a tax deductible donation of $1,000 you can name one of the two chinchilla habitats. While we often have more than 2 cages of chinchillas at any given time we have two permanent groups of chinchillas one includes females and neutered males and the other is unneutered males. This is your chance to name one of those permanent habitats!

Nursery Guinea Pig Enclosure [Claimed]: The naming rights for this room have been claimed by PartyPiggies. For a tax deductible donation of $1,000 you can name the permanent guinea pig enclosure that is used for pregnant females, moms with babies, or just weaned babies!

$500
Hamster Condo #1 [claimed]: The naming rights of this condo have been claimed by Courtney Z and it will be called "Peekaboo's Palace." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name a hamster condo! Hamster condos are made up of 8 individual cages with 575 square inches of space each. Each condo was handmade with plexiglass and steel by us and they’re [mostly] escape proof for all but a few very very clever hamsters.

Hamster Condo #2 [Claimed]: The naming rights for this condo have been claimed by Jesi M, and it will be called "Egg and Toast Resort" in honor of her first two dwarf hamsters! For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name a hamster condo! Hamster condos are made up of 8 individual cages with 575 square inches of space each. Each condo was handmade with plexiglass and steel by us and they’re [mostly] escape proof for all but a few very very clever hamsters.

Hamster Condo #3 [claimed]: The naming rights of this condo have been claimed by Courtney Z and it will be called "Mami Chula's Mansion." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name a hamster condo! Hamster condos are made up of 8 individual cages with 575 square inches of space each. Each condo was handmade with plexiglass and steel by us and they’re [mostly] escape proof for all but a few very very clever hamsters.

Hamster Condo #4[claimed]: The naming rights of this condo have been claimed by Courtney Z and it will be called "Osito's Castle." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name a hamster condo! Hamster condos are made up of 8 individual cages with 575 square inches of space each. Each condo was handmade with plexiglass and steel by us and they’re [mostly] escape proof for all but a few very very clever hamsters.

Hamster Condo #5 [claimed]: The naming rights of this condo have been claimed by Courtney Z and it will be called "The Dwarves Den." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name a hamster condo! Hamster condos are made up of 8 individual cages with 575 square inches of space each. Each condo was handmade with plexiglass and steel by us and they’re [mostly] escape proof for all but a few very very clever hamsters.

Hamster Condo #6 [claimed]: The naming rights of this condo have been claimed by Jamie M. and will be called "Glitter Party Palace." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name a hamster condo! Hamster condos are made up of 8 individual cages with 575 square inches of space each. Each condo was handmade with plexiglass and steel by us and they’re [mostly] escape proof for all but a few very very clever hamsters.

Mouse Aquarium: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the permanent mouse aquarium that will hold a colony of female mice and neutered male mice! Historically we have used a 75 gallon aquarium for this, but I would really like to make this permanent

Gerbil Aquarium [claimed]: The naming rights of this aquarium have been claimed by Courtney Z and it will be called "Athos and Margot's Nest." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the permanent gerbil aquarium. Historically we have used a 55 gallon aquarium for our permanent gerbil colony but I would like to move that to at least a 75 gallon to give them plenty of space. While many adoptable gerbils may live in smaller cages while they search for a forever home we like to keep a permanent group of special needs residents.

Gerbil Aquarium 2 [claimed]: The naming rights of this aquarium have been claimed by Sara L. and it will be called "Ice Cream's Gnawsome Hideout." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the permanent gerbil aquarium. Historically we have used a 55 gallon aquarium for our permanent gerbil colony but I would like to move that to at least a 75 gallon to give them plenty of space. While many adoptable gerbils may live in smaller cages while they search for a forever home we like to keep a permanent group of special needs residents.

The Guinea Pig Lounge [claimed]: The Guinea Pig Lounge has been claimed by Dream8690 and will be called "Lounge like a Greyhound" and will include the names of her 5 beloved greyhounds Diamond, Stoney, Dooley, Dude, and Toni. For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the guinea pig lounge. Well, Dream8690 asked and who were we to say no to adding a guinea pig lounge to the planned guinea pig enclosure in honor of her greyhounds. The guinea pig lounge will be a section of the cage with fleece bedding and tons of adorable fleece beds where the guinea pigs can lounge around (like a grey hound) after doing their daily zoomies! So, if you want to name something in particular don't hesitate to ask and we will see what we can make happen!

Water heated ICU/Incubator [claimed]: The naming rights of this condo have been claimed by Courtney Z and it will be called "Mortimer's Babiest Baby Incubator." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name our water heated ICU/incubator that is used to save the lives of dozens of babies every year. This ICU is perfect for maintaining the perfect temperature for babies who lost their moms and need to be handraised. You know you want your legacy to live on through saving these babies.

Chinchilla Habitat #2: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of the three chinchilla habitats. While we often have more than 3 cages of chinchillas at any given time we have three permanent groups of chinchillas one includes females and neutered males, one is all females, and the other is unneutered males.This is your chance to name one of those permanent habitats!

Chinchilla Habitat #3: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of the three chinchilla habitats. While we often have more than 3 cages of chinchillas at any given time we have three permanent groups of chinchillas one includes females and neutered males, one is all females and the other is unneutered males.This is your chance to name one of those permanent habitats!

Female Degu Habitat [claimed]: The naming rights for the Female Degu Habitat were claimed by Jennifer D. and it will be called the "Degu Dame Domain." For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the degu habitat for our wonderful female degus. The majority of the degus that come to stay at The Pipsqueakery permanently are here because of dental disease or diabetes. These issues make them unadoptable but we do our best to give them a wonderful life here.

Male Degu Habitat: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the degu habitat for our wonderful male degus. The majority of the degus that come to stay at The Pipsqueakery permanently are here because of dental disease or diabetes. These issues make them unadoptable but we do our best to give them a wonderful life here.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #1 [claimed]: This half-wall rabbit stall will be named for the grumpiest bunny ever, Mini! For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #2: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #3: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #4: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #5: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #6: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #7: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #8: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Half-Wall Rabbit Stall #9: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name one of 9 permanent rabbit enclosures. These stalls will be 5x5 feet and give singles or pairs of rabbits who don't want to bond with larger groups a sanctuary space at The Pipsqueakery.

Small Rat Cage: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the smaller rat cage! While we usually only have 1 large rat cage for our sanctuary rats, we always have a second smaller cage of rats waiting to be altered to get adopted/join the sanctuary group, or who won't integrate into our larger group!

Flying Squirrel Cage: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the flying squirrel cage! While this cage currently houses Rufus I imagine it will be rare for us to be without a flying squirrel going forward!

Mobility Guinea Pig Cage: For a tax deductible donation of $500 you can name the mobility guinea pig cage. This cage has a sweet sweet foam bottom and ikea rugs for bedding to keep the guinea pigs who have mobility issues happy and healthy!

$100
Name on a plaque: For a tax deductible donation of $100 we will put the name of your choice and a brief message on plaque to hang on the wall of the new facility!

The Pipsqueakery is a 501(c)3 nonprofit small animal rescue and sanctuary located in Bloomington, IN. We provide care for medically and behaviorally needy rodents and rabbits, educate the public on their care, and find forever homes and rescue placement for healthy adoptable animals. The Pipsqueakery focuses on the care of animals with medical conditions including paralysis, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, amputations, and dental disease. Our goal is to advance veterinary care and develop individual plans that prioritize accommodating the special needs of each animal to allow them to live a fulfilling life as independently as possible. Donations are tax deductible!

The Pipsqueakery and Fuzzberta need your help to save 91 guinea pigs that were confiscated  from a hoarding situation in Watertown, Wisconsin.

What the fuzz?!

Is that a herd of miniature buffalo migrating across America?! No! That’s a herd of guinea pigs! Or perhaps a herd of piggalos?

The Pipsqueakery and Fuzzberta are teaming up with some amazing rescues and the Small Pet Select rescue van to help 91 guinea pigs from a hoarding situation in Watertown, Wisconsin find their forever homes. So, here’s what’s happening. Next Monday, 91 guinea pigs are descending on The Pipsqueakery in a stampede so epic we all expect to be crushed.

The next day 22 of those guinea pigs are heading out with the Small Pet Select rescue van to go to The Guinea Pig Slave rescue in Arkansas (10 of them) and Wee Companions Small Animal Rescue in San Diego, California (12 of them).

Then, two weeks later The Small Pet Select rescue van is swinging back to The Pipsqueakery to pick up 33 guinea pigs to go to Wheek Care Guinea Pig Rescue in New Kensington, PA (20 of them), Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue in Washington DC (10 of them), and Fusaro Farms in Rhode Island (3 of them).

There will also be 9 guinea pigs going to our local partner rescue EARPS, Inc, located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

That leaves 27 that The Pipsqueakery and Fuzzberta will be rehoming directly when Monica flies out to The Pipsqueakery and then drives cross-country with Jason and the guinea pigs we can find homes for in the Bay Area (CA). Three of the guinea pigs will have long-term, possibly forever, stays at The Pipsqueakery because of chronic respiratory disease (2 of them) and neurological issues (one of them)

So, we need your help! Now I know $4,000 seems like a huge goal, but stay with me while I break this down. First, the guinea pigs coming to The Pipsqueakery will have to be housed, fed, and watered. Even the 22 staying one night will take up some resources in the form of food and bedding.

We estimate the following for housing and food. Approximately $300 of hay, $350 of pelleted food, $200 in veggies, $500 in bedding, and $600 in additional caging supplies (cages, water bottles, food bowls, chew toys, houses, etc). This will cover the 22 guinea pigs for 1 night, the remaining 69 for 2 weeks, and then the remaining 27 for as long as it takes to adopt them out (including on their transport and time in the Bay Area at Monica’s house).

The 24 that we hope to adopt out will need exams before they can be adopted or leave with Monica which will cost $65 each, and we will need to confirm the pregnancy status of all the females going to California before they can leave with Monica which I estimate will cost between $500 and $800 total. We will also need to spay and neuter the majority of the guinea pigs being adopted out (this will be a case by case decision, depending on age and a number of other factors we are dealing with) which I estimate will cost at between $900 and $1500.

The three sick guinea pigs will need exams ($65 each), and I suspect $300-700 each to get them diagnosed and get their care plan to manage their conditions in place.

Finally, it will cost at least $300 to fly Monica out here for the drive, and $300 to fly Jason back after the drive. It will cost approximately $1000 to rent a car the size we need for as long as we need it, and at least $600 in gas to drive from Bloomington, Indiana to the Bay Area.

This brings us to a grand total of this rescue costing anywhere from $8205 to $10,305 assuming there are no unexpected emergencies and everything goes as planned (which it rarely does in rescue).

Please consider donating to this great cause and help us save some fuzzy blobby lives!

If you wish to donate items from our Amazon wishlist you can go to http://a.co/3TwUztu   to find many items that we need. Additionally, you can find other ways to help at www.thepipsqueakery.org/help  

 About The Pipsqueakery

The Pipsqueakery is a 501(c)3 nonprofit small animal rescue and sanctuary located in Bloomington, Indiana. We provide care for medically and behaviorally needy rodents and rabbits, educate the public on their care, and find forever homes and rescue placement for healthy adoptable animals.

The Pipsqueakery focuses on the care of animals with medical conditions including paralysis, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, amputations, and dental disease. Our goal is to advance veterinary care and develop individual plans that prioritize accommodating

Pippity Squicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Hamsters

The 77 Baudelaire Dwarf Hamsters were intelligent hamsters, and they were charming, and resourceful, and had fuzzy facial features, but they were extremely unlucky, and most everything that happened to them was rife with misfortune, misery, and despair. Their story begins yesterday when they were left at a pet shelter in Brooklyn, New York by an aging, elderly woman who could no longer care for them or their tiny fuzzy faces.

I wish I could tell you the Baudelaire hamsters were on their way to The Pipsqueakery right now. I wish I could say that, but I can’t. Because as a purveyor of nonfiction stories I generally speak the truth.

In truth the hamsters are waylaid. A word which in this case means stopped, interrupted, or detained by trouble of some sort or another. They sit at an Animal Care Center in Brooklyn New York awaiting intervention of some kind, divine or funded by caring persons of the internet.

This intervention is already underway.

I have spent weeks of research and “years” crying myself to sleep in transport hell attempting to arrange their safe passage across these United States of America. Numerous agents belonging to a series of clandestine* organizations have agreed to convey their tiny-pawed selves across the necessary highways. Clandestine, here, means secretive or done secretly.  Though in this case the organizations are not clandestine at all, and are, in fact, quite public (Westchester Rescued Hamster Haven, transporters sponsored by Small Pet Select, and The Pipsqueakery).

This would be a perfect time to leave and pretend the rest of the story was just as happy and successful as the course of action laid out so far. Certainly I wish I could go back and change the history of the Baudelaire Hamsters so that 2 hamsters had never turned into 77, they had never been orphaned at a shelter in Brooklyn, and had never needed to embark on a (not-at-all) perilous journey into the heart of the midwest. I’m sorry to tell you this, but that is how the story went.

Instead, at this very moment, the humans of this pitiful tale prepare for a descent into misery, tribulation, and dire inconvenience which will occur shortly when waves of teensy hamsters crash upon the bulwarks of not just their home but their sanity as well.


But really, there are 77 hamsters coming to The Pipsqueakery next Sunday all the way from Brooklyn, New York (it was originally 87 hamsters, but 10 had to be euthanized because of severe injuries). Of those hamsters, 31 of them are potentially pregnant so I expect about 20 hamsters to give birth to litters in the next 3 weeks which will likely at least double the number of hamsters in this Series of Unfortunate Hamsters.


Large intakes like this are a lot of work and cost a lot of money which is why we are attempting to raise $10,000. Ultimately this will work out to less than $100 per hamster once births are accounted for. This will be used to provide transport cages, house them, feed them, get them vet care (which many will likely need since 10 had to be euthanized for injuries), provide toys for enrichment, and hopefully transport some of them to other rescues across the United States and Canada to find forever homes.


The Pipsqueakery is a 501(c)3 nonprofit small animal rescue and sanctuary. We provide care for medically and behaviorally needy rodents and rabbits, educates the public on their care, and find forever homes and rescue placement for healthy adoptable animals.

The Pipsqueakery focuses on the care of animals with medical conditions including paralysis, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, amputations, and dental disease. Our goal is to advance veterinary care and develop individual plans that prioritize accommodating the special needs of each animal to allow them to live a fulfilling life as independently as possible.


If you wish to donate items from our Amazon wishlist you can go to http://a.co/3TwUztu to find many items that we need. We will particularly need food and Kaytee Clean and Cozy bedding for this large intake.