Hamster family rescue
At Woodgreen, we take in thousands of homeless pets into our centre every year. As well as dogs and cats, we give safe shelter to many small animals too.
And their stories are often just as heart-breaking. Just like the family of six Syrian hamsters found abandoned in a chalk pit in Cambridgeshire last year.
Cold, wet and starving, they’d been found as heavy rain pelted down on them. Although they were in cages, being exposed to terrible weather without access to appropriate food had left them extremely vulnerable. A quick call to us from their finder and help was on the way!
Our Small Pets Team got to work on getting a unit set up for their arrival, while the charity’s Pet Collection service brought them in as an emergency to our Godmanchester Centre. Upon arrival, they were given a full health check and sexed by our Pet Carers. The family consisted of a mum, dad and four babies. Aside from being a bit underweight, there were no other concerns about their health – which was a huge relief to the team.
They were then placed in the care of a number of Woodgreen fosterers. This enabled each hamster to get the undivided attention they needed to prepare for their forever homes, including getting them used to people as well as building up their strength.
Charli, who works in Woodgreen’s Offsite Care Team, fostered one of the female babies and couldn’t resist keeping her. She’s named her Athena, and it sounds like she’s made herself right at home: “She’s amazing and quite chilled out – she doesn’t get up until 10pm!” she tells us.
Along with Athena, the rest of the family have found loving homes too – the happy ending they deserve.
Whether you’re already a hamster owner or thinking about getting one, there’s plenty of helpful advice to explore on our website.
Adopt small animals like hamsters with Woodgreen today.