Marshall (pig). Arrived 25 December 2015 (Merry Christmas, Marshall)
Marshall… a Christmas miracle – what an horrific story this little piglet must have to tell…
Weighing around 6 kg and estimated to be about eight weeks old, he came to us terrified – found on the side of the road, tied inside a feed sack with front legs gaffa-taped and a nose clip (resembles an industrial staple) through the top of his snout – a practice that even the pig industry admits is painful.
Happy Hooves Sanctuary staff member, Paul, was waved down by an elderly couple standing on the side of a busy highway on Christmas day around lunch time, and after hesitating because others had already stopped, pulled over to investigate.
Paul retrieved the sack from a ditch and opened it to find this little guy inside, along with his own urine and faeces – the other woman who had pulled over exclaimed “thank god it’s not a puppy!” (we kid you not).
We wonder if the elderly couple or woman who pulled over… the ones who were relieved to find it was “only a pig”… know that pigs are smarter than dogs and in fact have the mental capacity of a three year-old child. Regardless of the species inside the bag – a puppy, a chicken, a pig or a child – they would all have been terrified and all equally undeserving of such treatment.
Marshall is terrified and flinches at every touch, no matter how gentle or slow – we hate to think what he has been through. We can only surmise the fate that awaited him but for his timely and miraculous rescue. He needs a lot of gentle love and care and he needs to be castrated and have the abhorrent clip removed from his sensitive snout, but most of all, we want him to learn that not all humans are bad and no one from here on in will hurt him, intentionally scare him or expect anything from him.
Happy New Year, Marshall.
UPDATE: Marshall has come to trust us very quickly and now allows back scratches, tummy rubs and even lets us stroke his ears – unheard of just two weeks earlier. The horrid metal nose clip feel out of his nose by itself – we like to think his young body rejecting a reminder of his first two months of life. He has been to the vet and been surgically castrated without any problems, thanks to our awesome vets; he has gone from flinching at every touch, to lapping it up and rolling over for bell rubs in just one week!
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** Happy Hooves Farm Sanctuary – Where The Good Life Begins **
