Pig in Paradise
Farm hog takes a spring break at home of "flying" pigs
Robert is just a big lump of love, and Carol Eiswald is thrilled he's taking a vacation at her pig sanctuary, The Tusk and Bristle, in upstate New York.
"I'd heard that Best Friends needed help for a farm pig at Pets Alive. In pig rescue, it's more difficult to find homes for farm pigs than potbellied pigs, and I knew I could help him," Carol said.
Robert had a nagging infection in one of his legs and couldn't get over it. His pen had bad drainage and he would step from his little house, right up to his hocks in mud. He needed to be some place where he could be kept out of mud until the infection could heal up. And with the heavy rains that just seem to love New York right now, there was no chance for Robert’s pen at Pets Alive to dry out. So Best Friends was looking for a better place for him to live.
Robert and Carol get acquainted before he heads out on his vacation with her. Carol had built a large section of her house around the care, comfort and convenience of the pig -- or rather about 85 pigs at the moment. There are pig cubbies inside the house, heated floors in the attached barn, built-in drains for easy cleaning, and two huge ponds with munchable water lilies where the pigs while away the hot summer days.
And more on the aesthetic side, the decor is piglicious: a five-member herd of large sculptured flying pigs has landed on the roof and in the front yard. In the house are numerous pictures of famous pigs on the wall, and there is a pig room just off of the kitchen, with pig-sized beds, and a large drain in the floor for easy cleaning. Everywhere at Carol’s house there are signs of piggy loving.
Carol felt Robert tug at her heart strings from afar, and she hadn't met him yet. She knew that it is harder to place a farm pig in a safe home than it is a potbellied pig. And then she met him...it was love at first sight. "He's a big lovelump, and one of those pigs who vocalize a lot...he has a comment about everything," Carol said.
"But all pigs are dear, loving animals. They follow you around and seem to know what you are feeling. They sense when something is wrong. When I am stressed out, they are calming and comforting, and I've heard that from everyone I know who understands pigs."
Right now Robert is in a warm barn, living with Louise the African warthog and Rusty the European wild boar.
"As soon as the weather breaks, he will have two to three acres to himself...perhaps he will share them with Rusty and Louise. He will have a straw-filled Quonset and lakeside property. He will be able to see the pigs on the other side of the fence, and when the time is right, he will be integrated with some of the farm pigs," Carol said.
It will be a huge moment in Robert's life when he sees pigs on the other side of the fence. Since the time he came to Pets Alive about 9 years ago as a sick little runt, he has never seen another of his own kind.
When that time comes, Carol will introduce him to other pigs. She says, that like dogs, pigs just have to sort out the pack order.
"Once order is established, peace reigns. But the process can be unpleasant sometimes, though pigs are generally peaceful animals once that matter is settled," she said.
So think of Robert grazing out on green grasses, munching lilies and living with his own kind...pretty good stuff, huh?
By Barbara Williamson