AN animal welfare sanctuary is appealing for prospective pet owners following a deluge of degus.

The rescue operation to collect 39 degus stunned the staff at Woodside Animal Sanctuary in Plymouth.

Degus (pictured right) belong to the chinchilla and guinea pig families and, because they are highly social animals, cannot be re-homed as single pets.

Sanctuary manager Helen Leqointe said: 'We received a call for help last week from a gentleman who had become seriously out of his depth with his collection of pets. Although it was beyond our usual catchment area, we responded because he had been unable to find anyone else to help him.'

On arrival, Woodside Animal Welfare Trust staff found a home full of assorted animals and a shocking number of degus. All were cared for and in general good health, but their cages were far too cramped for their numbers. Used to the odd one or two pairs at the sanctuary, emergency housing had to be prepared in readiness and 39 of the original 87 are now settled and awaiting their vet check.

Helen added: 'One of the first things we did was to segregate the sexes, the reason of course why the population explosion occurred. We then ensured that the remaining degus were comfortable and we will return for more as soon as we can. This was in no way a cruel or uncaring owner, just one who became overwhelmed by numbers.'

Anyone wishing to adopt some of the degus can call Woodside on 01752 347503 (11am to 5pm).