Nearly 60 guinea pigs abandoned on Orange County road

Nearly 60 guinea pigs were found abandoned along a dead-end road in Orange County. Volunteers and rescue organizations are now working to rehome the animals.

Those who discovered the guinea pigs found them in a rural part of the county on Aerospace Parkway near Transport Drive.

"We just saw dozens of guinea pigs and they were all just out. And the more you look, the more you saw," Hannah Kelley, who discovered the guinea pigs on Thursday, said.

Video: Space Coast Bunnies

Kelley learned about the guinea pigs from her coworkers on and decided to head over the road, only to be overwhelmed by the sight.

"It was really heartbreaking to kind of see that. And then there was really nothing that could be done in the magnitude of it was pretty significant," she said.

After contacting a local pet rescue called Bunny Boss in DeLand, they were willing to take some of the guinea pigs.

Kelley was eventually able to get in contact with Tara Jankovic from Little Friends Guinea Pig Rescue of Brevard County.

Jankovic said, "[Hannah] was able to catch five and bring them to me, so I took them. And then there are a lot of other amazing people that volunteered to go out there and try to find them. Then my friend Ashley and Kathy from Space Coast Bunnies, they went out there yesterday and spent several hours and caught all the rest of them, except for two."

Ashley Berke from Space Coast Bunnies said people were trying to grab as many guinea pigs as they could to rescue them. They managed to catch 28 on Saturday, while 25 had already been caught before their arrival.

She said they found three dead guinea pigs.

"When we arrived there, we couldn't believe that all of the guinea pigs were just out by the road and running around. They were so hungry, it was so sad," Berke said.

Although the exact number of guinea pigs initially dumped and the identity of the person responsible remain unknown, rescue organizations are urging people to consider alternatives.

Jankovic said, "There's several rehoming pages like on Facebook, or reach out to rescues. They're not meant to be out in the wild."

Berke emphasized the need for community support, saying, "We need fosters and adopters. Thankfully, last night we had a number of people reach out about fostering. We need help in the Brevard County, all of the rescues around Central Florida need help."