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Sixteen-year-old Tylah Armato took it upon herself to travel to the rescue site from across town and attempt to catch both pets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to get a trap and take it over there, get some carrots and a block of guinea pig and rabbit food and chuck it in some traps and hope for the best,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt like it would be a good thing to do for someone as I\u2019ve lost some animals myself, they\u2019ve gotten out and I felt horrible and I wish that someone would do that to my animal if they found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On 10 June, Ms Armato\u2019s efforts paid off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shocked me when I saw the guinea pig in the cage because I didn\u2019t have any chance, there\u2019s so many bushes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Realising the markings on the captured guinea pig were an exact match to the photos of Meatball sent to her by Ms Kinross, Ms Armato told her the good news.<\/p>\n
Apprehensive to believe her tiny pet could\u2019ve survived away from home, Ms Kinross wanted to be certain it was Meatball by searching for some key physical features when the family met with Ms Armato and the rescued guinea pig.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had these very distinctive markings like the lighter colour patch on one side that didn\u2019t go the whole way around, she had a white front left paw and then she had three nipples which is not a common thing for guinea pigs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I believed it. I was completely gobsmacked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Kinross\u2019 10-year-old daughter Adaline was just as shocked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just speechless,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Last Sunday Ms Armato also managed to rescue the baby, Chomp, which now joins his mum and seven guinea pig siblings at the Kinross\u2019 home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHEN little Meatball the guinea pig escaped from her home in Epsom she left a big hole in the hearts of her owners, the Kinross family. But an unlikely rescue mission sparked by a Facebook post and complete with traps, thermal detecting gear and a determined 16-year-old stranger led to Meatball being reunited with her […]<\/p>\n