The Campbell Crowd - East Bay Dwarf Hamster Rescue

North Star Rescue is currently preparing to undertake a large rescue of over 100 Campbells Dwarf Hamsters from an owner in the East Bay. The owner of the hamsters had originally purchased a single hamster from a pet store, and brought it home only to find out it was pregnant and giving birth to a litter of many more hamsters. With large litter sizes and hamsters who reach fertility age very quickly, coupled with a short gestation period, a few babies who weren't able to be correctly gender seperated quickly blew up to over a hundred dwarf hamsters.

The owner sought assistance from several Animal Control agencies, but found that their local shelter was unable to offer a humane solution for such a large number of hamsters. North Star Rescue was contacted by an East Bay Animal Control officer seeking help for the overwhelmed owner.

Volunteers from North Star Rescue will be going to pick up all of the hamsters on Wednesday, August 5th. We anticipate a HUGE need for foster homes for the dwarf hamsters, many of which may be pregnant.

If you would like to help North Star Rescue save the Campbell Crowd, we are in need of the following supplies:

• Carefresh Bedding or Kaytee Softsorb Bedding
• Plastic Critter Keepers for Transport
• 10 Gallon and Larger Aquariums with Screen Lids
• Hamster Cages with very small bar spacing
• Solid Surface Running Wheels
• Nest Boxes or Plastic Igloos
• Chew Toys and Other Hamster Toys

You can also make a donation through our secure PayPal button on the left hand side. Donations will go towards bedding, food, diabetes testing supplies, toys, transport and any veterinary services the hamsters may need.

If you are interested in adopting a dwarf hamster, there is no better time! Campbells Dwarf Hamsters are typically suited to homes with older children or adults, and can make wonderful pets that are very easy to care for. If you are interested in adopting a dwarf hamster, please check out our section on Dwarf Hamster Care and send an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To help promote adoptions for this huge number of hamsters, North Star Rescue is planning a huge hamster adoption event and hamster-ball derby in cooperation with RabbitEARS Pet Supply & Services in the East Bay. Please check back for more details, and for updates on the progress of this rescue.

August 6th Update
On August 5th, 2009, Volunteers from North Star Rescue made a trip into Oakland to the hamster owner's home to remove all of the hamsters. Over sixty hamsters were removed from the residence, and were found to be in good health and extremely social.

After speaking with the hamster owner at length, we found out the whole story on how The Campbell Crowd got started. After the owner's last hamster had to be euthanized at two years of age, they went to a pet store to purchase another dwarf hamster who turned out to be pregnant and gave birth in the days following. Despite seeking assistance through another pet store and veterinarian, the owner was unable to find someone who could correctly gender seperate all of the hamsters and additional pregnancies resulted.

While the owner hadn't been able to gender seperate all of the hamsters, both the owner and their roommate had spent as much time as possible handling and socializing all of the dwarf hamsters. We are happy to say that these are some of the friendliest dwarf hamsters we've seen in a long time!

We will be placing some of the male dwarf hamsters up for adoption at our next Adoption Event on August 15th at RabbitEARS Pet Supply & Services in Kensington. We will be holding over all of the female hamsters until we are sure that they are not pregnant, or they have had litters and had the time to raise and wean any resulting pups. Most of these dwarf hamsters are very friendly agoutis, some with unique orange shading to their lighter coloring, with several gray and black hamsters as well.

October Update
We are happy to announce the last of the Campbell Crew have found homes through our rescue! We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the hamster rescue efforts, including RabbitEARS Pet Supply & Services for hosting a fantastic hamster adoption event, The Marin Humane Society who helped foster several pregnant female hamsters for our rescue, Kim Haas from Sacramento who assisted in placing many hamsters through her classroom pet education program, and everyone else who sent in best wishes, support, and most of all, to everyone who adopted!

North Star Rescue was able to find homes for almost 100 Campbell Dwarf Hamsters, who are now enjoying their own homes and their own familes! We're sure the lucky adopters of all of the very sweet hamsters from this rescue are enjoying their company now.