SOME MORE OF THE PIGS THAT OWN ME

Roscoe, Alf and Newton

Roscoe came from a pet store. He was bought and returned several times before they called me to give him a permanent home. He is such a sweet pig they couldn't understand why nobody wanted to keep him. I figured it out the first day he was here. He was a boar!

Alf is an Ossabaw Island Hog, or Ossie for short. He wasn't rescued, but I adopted him from the Piatkowskis who rescued his parents.

Newton was abandoned by his family, probably because he has two club feet. He is my other favorite, and lives in the house. His favorite food is scrambled eggs.

This is Pyg. Believe it or not, he used to be much bigger. He boards here. His elderly owners couldn't keep him any longer, but they support him and visit occasionally.

This is Babette, who spent the first 5 years of her life in a small city condo. She had no idea she was a pig. In fact, when I first saw her, she was lying on the couch watching a TV show....about sausage making!! Now that she has learned to be a pig, she prefers living in the barn and rooting around the yard.

Unfortunately, many pigs like Babette simply lose the will to live when they are separated from their families, and many simply refuse to eat or drink and ultimately die in spite of the best efforts of their caretakers. It was a bit touch and go with Babette for a while, and it was a difficult adjustment for her. Pig ownership should be a commitment for the life of the pig. Far too many people get a pig on a whim or because piglets are so cute. Then when the cute little piglet inevitably turns into a pig...and acts like a pig, they dump it. This is tragic and is part of the reason there are so many homeless pigs needing rescue. Nobody should consider getting a pig...or any pet, for that matter, until they have done enough research to know what to expect and whether a pig is really the pet for them.

Pigs are not for everyone, but they are excellent companion animals for many people.They are extremely intelligent, and therefore require much more time and attention on the part the owner than a cat or dog. Pig people refer to themselves as "pig parents" because having a pig is a lot like having a perpetual toddler. If you can't imagine living with a two year old for the next dozen or so years, you probably shouldn't consider getting a pig.

Another tragedy of recent years is the number of pigs who are losing their homes due to zoning. According to a recent study, more than 1/3 of pigs sent to shelters were there because they had been forced from their homes due to zoning. Unfortunately, many towns still have laws on the books regarding the raising of "swine", or hogs for slaughter within town limits. These laws predate the time when potbellied pigs were imported to this country as pets, and should not be applied to potbellied or other miniature pet pigs.

This is Lucy.....and there are the "Buns of Squeal" that won the PigPals Cyberpig contest. Sadly, Lucy went to the Rainbow Bridge on January 5th. I still miss her.