Often, to be able to rescue some of the guinea pigs we hear about, we have to deal with some selfish/unsavoury/clueless people. Many just don't realise what they're doing wrong, unfortunately many know exactly what they're doing.
Sometimes to ensure the safety and welfare of guinea pigs we have to pay to rescue the guinea pigs. We try to educate the people we "buy" from to reduce the risk of similar occurrences and encourage them to lower their prices. Often these guinea pigs are found online. Buying or getting guinea pigs this way, may seem a strange practice for a rescue, but we have seen the consequences of guinea pigs being sold or given away this way. If we take them, it reduces the risk of them ending up in the hands of breeders/dealers who do not care for animal welfare or being used as LIVE snake food.