by Sherry Burnett

Created on: July 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 24, 2009

Saving Wilbur- Pigs as Pets in a Sanctuary Setting

The questions we are asked when people visit or hear about our sanctuary are many. Why pigs? Where do they come from? Doesn't it cost a lot to feed them?

We decided to focus our love of animals on swine, because there is not a lot of compassion for pigs, and misconceptions abound. About 6 years ago, we adopted a young potbellied pig, more or less inadvertently. We were volunteering at a farm, helping out with the pigs for the most part, because I have always loved pigs, and knew at some point, I would have a pig of my very own. There were two tiny potbellied piglets that were not thriving, and not strong enough to demand their fair share of food from the 2 dozen or so other pigs, This farm was in the habit of adopting out potbellied pigs, and we offered to take one of the piglets home to socialize her, and help her get healthy. Once Ruby had been in our home for about 6 weeks, we knew there was no way we could possibly bring her back to the farm, and we adopted her.

In researching about Ruby, we discovered that many, many potbellied pigs were in dire need of rescuing and re-homing. Not to mention farm pigs. Not many people can resist a cute piglet when they see them snuggled in a basket at the flea market, or when, on a whim, they answer an ad in the newspaper for "piglets for sale." A lot of people were erroneously told that the piglet would never grow beyond 50 pounds, and all you need to do is feed them dog food. Wrong! Dog food is the worst thing to feed them. It contains far too much salt and calories, which can actually cause blindness and obesity. An average full grown potbellied pig will weigh between 75 and 180 pounds. Even a 75 pound pig is a handful; they have such dense little bodies and are very strong. When these little flea-market finds grew and grew and grew, far beyond all expectations, they got dumped, at humane societies and shelters, and some are just let loose to fend for themselves.

Another reason potbellies need new homes is that people don't realize that they are illegal in many towns, municipalities and cities. They are considered livestock by many town councils. When the neighbours object to living next door to a pig, and call the officials, the pig has got to go.

People also find that a potbelly is a lot more pet than they bargained for. They are extremely intelligent, and get into all sorts of mischief if not given enough of your time, or enough stimulation. They are very much

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