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“The greatness of a nation and it’s moral progress can be judged by the way it’s animals are treated”

~ Mahatma Gandhi ~

Spanky & Harley’s Story

Our Most Recent Rescues!!

We first learned of Spanky one year ago when we were contacted by his owner requesting us to trim his hooves. When we arrived at Spanky’s home we were deeply disturbed by the state of the animal and the conditions that he was living in. We found Spanky alone in a shed at the back of the owner’s property laying in a plywood box he’d outgrown some time ago, with little more than hand fulls of dusty straw as bedding. At just three years of age, Spanky was morbidly obese and his hooves were so long that they were actually curling over, making walking very painful. We were not surprised to see the urine burns on the underside of his belly as he was clearly unable to walk at times to the bathroom. This was a very sad sight to see as pigs are exceptionally clean animals that will not mess in their bed unless they physically have no option.

Despite the truly saddening conditions, Spanky’s owner’s heart appeared to be in the right place as she claimed to love him very much and claimed that she did not know any better. After all, she had made the effort to call the R.A.S.T.A. rescue requesting us to trim his feet. She claimed that the reason Spanky’s hooves were so long was because there were no vets in Alberta willing or able to trim pig hooves and that she didn’t realize that this in fact needed to be done more than once a year. She also admitted that she had no knowledge about potbellied pig nutrition so she resorted to feeding Spanky numerous cups of dog food a day.

In the end, several volunteers were involved with trimming Spanky’s hooves which was no easy feat due to his immense size and the complications due to the severe overgrowth. We did not charge for our service as we were happy to help Spanky and though the owner promised to give a donation, we were never so fortunate as to receive it. Regardless, we took the opportunity to educate the owner as best we could about the care required in providing a happy and healthy home to a pot bellied pig. We educated her about the necessity of maintaining the hooves regularly, feeding a quality vegetarian diet, the need for exercise , weight loss, stimulation and companionship, proper bedding, etc. At the time, the owner seemed truly happy and grateful for all the information we provided her and promised to take direct action to improve Spanky’s life.

One Year Later – Even Worse Condition!!

Web.Pic.Spanky3 Web.Pic.Spanky4

The Pictures Speak for Themselves

One year later, we were contacted with distressing calls from a friend of Spanky’s owner’s urging us to visit Spanky and begging us to help him once again. Sadly, when we arrived at Spanky’s home for the second time we found him to be in worse condition. His hooves had not been trimmed since we had been there one year ago, curling once again but this time far worse. He had become even more obese with his belly now dragging on the ground that with every painful step, he would actualy step on his own belly, scraping it with his jagged overgrown hooves. He was now so obese that rolls of fat covered his eyes making him almost completely blind. His ear canals were completely plugged with filth and wax. He was so heavy that his legs had become very weak and as a result the poor guy was now crippled. He had tusks that had been neglected for so long that they were actually curling and growing back into his face!! He had painful open wounds as a result. His bedding was soiled and he was laying in his own urine. He was almost completely bald, except for a small patch of hair on his back and his skin was so dry it was cracking.

We were absolutely heart broken by what we’d found as it appeared that his owner had made no effort to improve his living conditions whatsoever, despite our thorough attempts to educate her the year prior. Although, the owner had bought herself another female potbellied piglet that was intended as a companion for Spanky, she lived inside the house with the rest of the family, removed from Spanky who continued to live alone in a shed in the back of the yard. Needless to say, we were very disappointed with the owner and horrified by her level of neglect for the animal that she had claimed to love so dearly. Unlike the last time, ignorance was not an excuse that she could plead for imposing further suffering on Spanky.

A Happy Ending

I am happy to report that in the end, on September 10th 2009, the owner willingly agreed to surrender not just Spanky but both pigs to the R.A.S.T.A. Sanctuary, admitting that she did not have time to care for the animals properly. To our surprise, she also gave R.A.S.T.A. a donation to help us provide care for the two pigs.

Since their surrender to the R.A.S.T.A. Sanctuary, Spanky and Harley have been living together and interacting with other rescued pigs and animals. No longer alone, Spanky now enjoys a rather full social life with a number of animal and human friends. He has become quite the favorite of many of the volunteers. Although both animals now require special-needs care due to the extent of the neglect they had suffered, they have improved both physically and emotionally since coming to R.A.S.T.A. We have manged to trim their hooves, although Spanky will require a great deal of frequent corrective trimming for a very long time. Spanky’s tusks have been cut back and we have treated his wounds. Both pigs are slowly being nursed back to health but it will be some time before they have recovered completely. We look forward to giving updates on Spanky & Harley’s progress at the Sanctuary!!

Spanky, Harley & New Friend Jacob

Safe at the R.A.S.T.A. Sanctuary

Former Owner Update

Since Spanky & Harley’s improvement at the Sanctuary, their former owner has since changed her mind and decided that she would like the pigs back. As she has signed the necessary paperwork transferring all legal rights of the animals over to the R.A.S.T.A. Sanctuary, the pigs are safe and under no threat of returning to their former lives. They will remain at the R.A.S.T.A. Sanctuary among the many other happy and well cared for animals for the rest of their lives.

However, for some reason this has angered the pigs’ former owner and R.A.S.T.A. has been dealing with the negative repercussions ever since.