Well do you live in ALABAMA?!?!?! I dont think so. and get over it!! ITS DONE! I don't care what you say
I don't live there, but I am literate, and when I visited there Alabama hadn't magically lost it's weather, predators, and diseases. From Alabama state law:
"§ 13A-11-14. Cruelty to Animals.
(a) A person commits the crime of cruelty to animals if, except as otherwise authorized by law, he intentionally or recklessly:
(1) Subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment; or
(2) Subjects any animal in his custody to cruel neglect; or
(3) Kills or injures without good cause any animal belonging to another.
(b) Cruelty to animals is a Class B misdemeanor.
From definitions in the next paragraph:
(b) The word "cruel" as used in this article shall mean: Every act, omission, or neglect,
including abandonment, where unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering, including abandonment, is caused or where unnecessary pain or suffering is allowed to continue."
You abandoned your degus. So sorry, even if the dumb cops in your town said it was fine, it's still against the law, and still legally defined as cruelty.