The visual foundation of the meme was born out of distress. In late 2024 and through 2025, municipal animal shelters across Southern California documented a staggering spike in surrendered pocket pets. Shelters designed primarily for stray dogs and feral cats found themselves managing hundreds of cavies. Backyard breeders, pandemic pet abandonments, and a severe shortage of affordable exotic veterinary care left shelters throughout the LA Department of Animal Services running at triple their capacity.
Volunteer groups began posting urgent pleas online. Instead of traditional adoption flyers, younger shelter workers filmed cavies huddling together in playpens, setting the footage to trending audio tracks. The distinct, urgent squeaks, known scientifically as "wheeking", became an accidental audio stem on TikTok. Within weeks, social media users stripped the footage of its original rescue context, pairing the crowded enclosures with captions describing open-house viewings in Echo Park and Koreatown.
