How to Become a Pet Pig Foster Mom

February 18, 2013 at 9:27 pm | Posted in Pig Rescue Organizations | 3 Comments
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Lately I’ve been thinking more and more about following through on one of my life long dreams; to own a pet pig (*). I’ve had many questions about pet pig ownership, some already answered through simple researching. But I still lack the confidence to move forward.

Tex-Dworkin

Here’s me pondering pig fostering

This Wednesday I am actually trying out dog fostering for the first time through Wonder Dog Rescue, a terrific San Francisco-based organization that goes to high kill shelters and saves pups, matching them up with foster parents until the dogs find their forever homes with adopters. (I won’t even know what doggie I’m getting until Wednesday. Exciting, huh?!)

The system really seems to work; folks who cannot commit to adopting a dog can help the cause by fostering (or donating, of course.) Dogs who were once set to be euthanized are saved, and the mobile weekend adoptions match the rescued pooches with new families. Win Win!

The organization provides foster parents with food, collar, even puppy training pads, eliminating restrictive costs from the equation.

Wilbur at 3 months, the day I adopted him

Wilbur at 3 months, the day I adopted him

I chose to foster a dog because, like many people, dog euthanasia really bums me out. But also because I have one dog already (Wilbur, whom I adopted from Wonder Dog) and I want to make sure having a second dog will fit into our lives in a positive way. So fostering seemed like the perfect solution.

So back to my questions; are there any pig rescue organizations in the US (preferably in Northern California) that have foster programs? Or is the very idea of this not a good one for reasons I’m unaware?

Please chime in if you are:

  • aware of any organizations who offer pig fostering;
  • from a pet pig rescue organization with an opinion about whether or not fostering is a viable solution to the problem of unwanted piggies;
  • a pet pig owner who has any advice for a gal considering pet pig ownership.

Thanks Pig Lovers!

*Full disclosure: The truth is I DID own a pig once, but it was not a pot bellied pig. In fact, it was not bred to be a pet pig at all. It was gifted to me when I was a teen by a couple of friends and I only had him for a few months or so before finding him a proper home at a local farm. It’s a long (and funny) story perhaps I’ll share with you one day. In the meantime, for the record I do not count that fleeting moment as pet pig ownership:)

Woman Threatens to Shave Head to Save Pigs

May 25, 2010 at 6:32 am | Posted in Pig News, Pig Rescue Organizations, Pigs with Other Animals, Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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Pigs Peace Volunteer Donna with a pig friend

Forget bake sales and silent auctions, raffles and gala events. When it comes to non-profit fundraising, one animal activist has a different strategy; baldness.

Pig rescue organization volunteer Donna Gonder is offering to shave her head to raise funds for Pigs Peace Sanctuary, a non-profit safe haven for abandoned and abused pigs in Stanwood, WA. The rules are simple;

  • If Donna reaches her fundraising goal of $180,000, she will shave her entire head. First snip goes to whoever donates the most.
  • If Donna raises $20,000, an anonymous donor has agreed to match it with another $20k
  • If you donate $10,000+ Donna will let YOU shave her head. Pigs Peace reps assured me that if they receive more than one $10,000+ donation, they’ll happily seek out other heads to shave. (Um, not it.)

What would a pig rescue organization do with $180,000 dollars? I’ll get to that, but first, you may be wondering why there’s a need for a pig rescue organization. Because despite being blessed with the gift of common sense, many humans still believe there is such a thing as a full grown pig the size of a teacup. So they buy these “magic” pigs and abandon them once the reality of size sets in. Animal shelters won’t accept the unwanted pigs so voila..pig rescue organizations to the rescue!

Here are five quick facts about Pigs Peace Sanctuary:

  1. This organization really has its you-know-what together. Scratch that. That’s opinion, not fact.

  2. Pigs Peace Founder Judy

    Judy Woods (pictured left) founded Pigs Peace Sanctuary back in 1994, and they’ve been providing medicine, nutrition and care to its pigs ever since.

  3. You may find Judy’s son Nathan working at the Sanctuary; he comes across (in their documentary) as a compassionate vegetarian animal lover and a great son. Oh, AND he’s cute. What’s not to like?!
  4. Pigs Peace Sanctuary doesn’t just cater to pigs; they also cater to other abused animals including horses, dogs, llamas, cats and sheep.
  5. The sanctuary offers the public an opportunity to visit and learn about animals, farming, and the foods we eat. I’m glad someone is teaching our next generation about where their food comes from. (I met a 5 year old once who tried to convince me that there was in fact a fruit roll-up tree. Scary stuff.)

If this isn’t enough to impress you, then watch one of the Pigs Peace videos to see for yourself. There’s a 30 minute documentary and some shorter videos as well.

So about that $180,000. Pigs Peace Sanctuary will use the money to purchase more land for pigs to roam free, plus fund a new education center where people can learn about animals. Additional land would enable the sanctuary to hold fundraising events on site without disturbing the animals or wasting money on outside venue costs. As Donna explains, every single penny that comes in is used for the animals and educating the public on how wonderful these creatures really are.

If Pigs Peace Sanctuary had a dollar for every idiot who buys a cute tiny piglet thinking it would stay that way, perhaps they wouldn’t need creative fundraisers like Donna.

Animals are not the only ones who stand to gain if volunteer Donna reaches her fundraising goal. If she shaves her head, Donna plans to donate her hair to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

I don’t have a lot of blog readers (yet), so if you are in the minority and reading this, please consider donating as much as you can to help Pigs Peace Sanctuary buy land. Get to know them better by visiting their website. You’ll find profiles of the sanctuary pigs with photos and stories of how each one was found. Plus they do a great job of showcasing what it’s like to live (and visit) there.

Here’s how to donate if you know George Clooney:

Do you know George Clooney? He lost his beloved 18 year old pet pig Max back in 2006. (RIP Max.)  I assume George is loaded, and clearly he has good taste in pets, so I’m thinking he might be willing to donate to Pigs Peace Sanctuary in Max’s name (there’s a ‘donate in honor of a loved one‘ feature on the Pigs Peace website), so if you know George, do me a favor and pass this post on to him.

Here’s how to donate if you don’t know George Clooney or if you ARE George Clooney:

  1. Log onto http://pigspeace.org/main/donate.html
  2. Choose your donation amount and method (Check or Paypal)
  3. Write “head shaving” in the donation notes OR email atumnnn@gmail.com  a heads up (no pun intended) so they can keep track of all head shaving related donations

For questions or to help with this fundraising project, email pigheadedgirl@gmail.com or call (206) 289-0957.

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