One guinea pig helped her son heal. Now she has to feed 400 every day, running America’s biggest Guinea Pig Sanctuary

Kimie Smothermon begins each day greeted by the squeals, chirps and purrs of nearly 400 guinea pigs.

Depending on who you ask, tending to the daily barrage of guinea pig needs can be either a fairy tale or a horror show.

For Smothermon, it’s often a mix of both.

“If I could figure out how to get out of this at this point, I probably would,” Smothermon joked.

“But I do believe that to a certain extent, I probably wouldn’t get out of bed if I didn’t have this.” Smothermon is the owner of the Guinea Pig Sanctuary, in Salisbury, Massachusetts, roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Boston.

On any given day, 350 to 400 guinea pigs are housed in a modest workspace, split into cages stacked from the floor to ceiling.

The space is cramped and chaotic as volunteers and visitors squeeze past each other between the rows of cages in a converted office space.

People constantly move throughout the space cleaning out cages and checking on any sick animals.

But there’s also joy.

The squeals from the little piggies about to eat lettuce and other vegetation often spark laughter, while others cuddle and comfort some of the guinea pigs.

Each animal has a name prominently displayed outside their cage, as volunteers tick off their personalities.

Maui is friendly and gives kisses.

Gritty is older, but shy.

Rio has spunk and likes to run around.