Family of missing pet guinea pig offer £100 reward for his safe return as sightings along River Stort continue

The owner of a missing guinea pig that wandered from its home in Roydon to Bishop’s Stortford after escaping during a burglary is now offering a £100 reward for his safe return.

Keeley Scott said their brown and white pet, Autumn, had been living wild for 20 days after numerous sightings of him along the banks of the River Stort.

Autumn escaped his run on the night the family home was burgled and it is believed he has travelled along the river path covering almost nine miles (14km).

A volunteer search group that had been out looking for him has stood down and Keeley is now hunting for her children’s beloved pet.

“I am offering a reward of £100 and am going out myself to look for him,” she said.

Commenting on Bishop’s Stortford Community Facebook page, Keeley said she had been shocked by the ‘rescue team’ that had been out looking for him, demanding she provide proof of ownership.

“Why on earth would we say he was ours if he wasn’t? It’s ridiculous. I could understand if others were claiming him, but they haven’t been. I have his brother here and he is missing him terribly.

“Please, please do keep your eyes out and please join the search! The general public have just as much chance of finding him. He will be difficult to catch but is friendly when caught. It is a miracle he has made it so far and is still alive. I am worried about the drop in temperature at night.”

Victoria Pain, whose volunteer group had been out looking for the guinea pig, said: “We are very disappointed that we were unable to catch the guinea pig today.

“Our team worked tirelessly for most of the day and came so close so many times. But unfortunately we are a small self-funded voluntary group and we do not have the people or resources to keep attending the location.

“The member of the public who is claiming ownership knows the location of the sightings and so we can only recommend that they keep attending and hope that he will allow himself to be caught as soon as possible.”

She added: “The position we are in is that we are unable to hand an animal over to a member of the public without proof of ownership.

“Whilst we empathise that it is a stressful situation, when an animal is found it becomes our responsibility to ensure its welfare and to ensure that appropriate checks are made to find the owner.”