Guilty: Local Breeder Convicted in Guinea Pig Cruelty Case After Tip From PETA Prompts Investigation

For Immediate Release:
June 25, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

On Monday, former guinea pig breeder Malinda King pleaded guilty to three counts of cruelty-to-animals and seven counts of neglect and was sentenced to two years of probation. She is also prohibited from possessing or working with animals for almost 11 years. The sentence follows an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police, which had been tipped off by PETA that federal officials had found dead guinea pigs as well as ones denied veterinary care and attacked by other severely stressed animals at Malinda and David King’s now-shuttered guinea pig–breeding operation in Lancaster County.

In July 2022, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection of the Kings’ property found dead baby guinea pigs, a dying guinea pig whose leg had been chewed to the bone, filthy enclosures, and guinea pigs denied access to water. In August 2022, inspectors found more dead guinea pigs as well as others who were denied veterinary care for rampant skin issues, including open, draining lesions. The Kings—who had been cited for more than 50 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act between 2019 and 2022—then relinquished their USDA license. When troopers acting on PETA’s tip visited the property later that month, they found additional dead guinea pigs and animals denied access to clean water and ordered the Kings to remove all guinea pigs from the property.

“Ignoring the suffering of animals who depend on your care comes with consequences, as Malinda King has learned, and other operators of breeding hellholes should be on high alert,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA urges everyone disturbed by this case never to buy animals from pet stores or breeders and to adopt from shelters instead.”

PETA has released the results of more than a dozen investigations into the pet trade, and each one has uncovered routine neglect and other cruelty, including hamsters, gerbils, rats, and other small animals confined to crowded bins or cages in filthy, windowless warehouses and denied access to clean water; small animals screaming while being gassed to death; and rats frozen alive.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.