A BLIND guinea pig dumped on top of a wheelie bin in Southampton has found the perfect new home in Bournemouth.

Veterinary nurse Sarah Johnson adopted the cute little rodent after hearing how she had been left in a cardboard box last November.

When found, the guinea pig had a shrunken eye. She was blind in one eye and had very little vision in the other.

She was taken to the RSPCA Animal Centre at Ashley Heath near Ringwood, where staff named her Beattie – because the box had previously contained a BT telephone and answering machine.

Sarah rang the animal centre to offer Beattie a home after hearing her story on local radio station Heart Dorset.

“There was a lot of interest in Beattie because of the press coverage. It said on the Heart website she wasn’t ready for rehoming yet, but when I rang, they said she was ready and I could go in and speak to them that day.”

Sarah adopted Beattie in December.

“When we first took her home she was a very quiet creature and stayed still a lot of the time,” she recalled.

“Since then, she has become far more active and runs round the house and kitchen. She doesn’t go outside but she is very comfortable in the house and has fitted into the family perfectly.” Beattie’s blindness is permanent, but she has a good quality of life with her new owners.

“And if she does have any health problems in the future, Sarah’s husband Ben is a vet and both work at the Pet Practice in Wallisdown.

Sarah said: “Although Beattie is blind, she knows when we come home because she can smell us, and always squeaks excitedly.

“She squeaks when she smells our other pets too, and when we feed her. She has doubled in size since we got her and looks far healthier.”