Pets at Home bosses say the chain has been forced to stop selling guinea pigs amid Streptococcus – or Strep – infection fears.

A pet shop chain with over 400 UK stores has announced it will stop selling beloved animal over “infection fears”. Pets at Home bosses say the chain has been forced to stop selling guinea pigs amid Streptococcus – or Strep – infection fears.

A post shared on social media read: “This weekend, pets at home won’t be selling guinea pigs. All customer facing colleagues right up to managers and the customer service team have been told to tell any customer wanting guinea pigs that “they can’t be sold at moment as they’re new into store and need their rest period”.

“However, that’s not the truth. The truth is, the breeding guineas have Streptococcus. What an absolute disgrace.” A Pets At Home spokesperson said: “We have identified a small percentage of cases of infection in our guinea pig population resulting from streptococcus equi zooepidemicus.

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“Pet welfare is always our top priority and as a precautionary measure we have taken swift and immediate action to temporarily pause the sale or adoption of guinea pigs. We will be contacting customers directly who have purchased a guinea pig from us recently with detailed advice and guidance.

“However, if you have immediate concerns, please contact your local Pets at Home or veterinary provider for further advice.” In animals, streptococcal diseases usually occur following infection by another agent (influenza, for example), or when the animal’s immune system is weakened. Streptococcal infections can cause a range of mild to severe symptoms in many different species of animals.

The diseases caused by the bacteria Streptococcus suis and Streptococcus equi ssp zooepidemicus are zoonotic, meaning that they can be transmitted to humans by animals such as pigs and horses. However, cases in humans are rare.

Pets at Home have 41 locations across Scotland and around 433 across the rest of the UK.