A recently decommissioned Lewis County Transit van is getting a new life transporting a very different kind of passenger: guinea pigs.
Vanellope Guinea Pig Sanctuary in Chehalis is the latest beneficiary of Lewis County Transit’s vehicle surplus program, which has donated six or seven vehicles to local nonprofits so far this surplus cycle.
“When we bring a vehicle into our facility, we deem it with a useful life term for us — how long we’re going to keep it and use it — and once they meet that useful life term, we deem it surplus,” said Tim Palmateer, director of fleet and facilities for Lewis County Transit.
Vehicles that hit that useful life threshold for Twin City Transit often still have enough life in them for non-commercial use, Palmateer said.
Surplus vehicles typically either go to auction or are surplused to a local nonprofit for $1.
“It really helps out the community quite a bit,” Palmateer said.
Nonprofits that have recently benefited from Lewis County Transit’s vehicle surplus program include Touched By One, Touched By All; Feisty Felines; Red Rose Animal Rescue; Onalaska Farm Sanctuary; and Passionate Pussycats Feline Rescue.
Vanellope Guinea Pig Sanctuary Director Nicolette Giovengo found out about Lewis County Transit’s vehicle surplus program through Onalaska Farm Sanctuary, which recently donated some of its stainless steel cage banks to the guinea pig sanctuary.
“I gave them a call, and I said, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you guys have any vans left, but here’s who we are and what we do and why we would benefit from it,’ and they invited me to come down the following week to take a look at it,” Giovengo said.
The van’s transmission will need some significant maintenance down the road, but with Giovengo and her husband skilled in vehicle repair themselves, Giovengo didn’t anticipate the van’s future repair needs being a problem.
“If something happens with it, it’s not going to be months and months and months waiting for it to be repaired,” she said.
Giovengo started Vanellope Guinea Pig Sanctuary out of her own home in 2019, after she got her first guinea pig, Vanellope, from Joint Animal Services in Olympia and soon took in five more that were either rescued from poor living conditions or whose owners were unable to keep them.
“It started out as, ‘OK, this one needs help.’ We’ll get them all fixed up, you make sure he or she’s got the vet care they need, and then they can live out their life in peace and not be constantly harassed or rehomed or anything like that,” Giovengo said. “We are a sanctuary first. That will always be the core of what we do.”
One of the original six rescued guinea pigs had a chronic health issue that resulted in many trips to a veterinarian at Pine Tree Veterinary Hospital in Maple Valley, nearly 80 miles away.
After her veterinarian at Pine Tree Veterinary Hospital suggested that Giovengo could get a discount on veterinary care if her sanctuary was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, she decided it was time to take the necessary steps to grow and legitimize her operation as a nonprofit serving guinea pigs and other small animals in Lewis County.
“There’s already something in Lewis County serving dogs and serving cats. There are multiple services for them. There’s nothing down here for these little guys. We’re it,” Giovengo said. “I want to develop that and help it flourish, because I know there are lots of those guys around.”
Giovengo assembled a board of directors and incorporated Vanellope Guinea Pig Sanctuary with the state of Washington in October 2023 and submitted a 501(c)(3) application a month later.
In June 2024, roughly eight months after submitting the application, Vanellope Guinea Pig Sanctuary got a letter confirming it was approved as an official 501(c)(3).
“A lot has happened since we got that letter,” Giovengo said.
Vanellope Guinea Pig Sanctuary now has transfer partnerships with other shelters and humane societies, including Regional Animal Services of King County, the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County and the Humane Society for Southwest Washington. The sanctuary is also working on starting a pet food pantry geared for small animals.
The sanctuary currently has about 50 guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters and chinchillas, with a maximum capacity of up to 70.
While primarily a sanctuary, Vanellope Guinea Pig Sanctuary also facilitates adoptions and fosters.
As a survivor of domestic violence who had a friend foster her guinea pigs for her while she fled her situation and got back on her feet, Giovengo said she wants to develop a fostering program specifically for people leaving domestic violence situations.
“Knowing that they made it out and I am able to give them the peace of mind that even though they couldn’t take the animal with them, or couldn’t take them right away, they knew they were safe. It was one less thing that they had to worry about,” she said.
The surplus Lewis County Transit van will primarily be used to transport animals to and from the sanctuary’s veterinarian in Maple Valley.
Up until now, Giovengo has been using her personal vehicle to make the trip, which has a much smaller animal transport capacity.
For more information on volunteering with Vanellope Guinea Pig Sanctuary or fostering, surrendering or adopting an animal can call the sanctuary at 856-539-4201 or mail vanellopeguineapigsanctuary@gmail.com.
Information on donations is available on the sanctuary’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15kvqwonDS/.
