Rooting out pignorance one human at a time

Teacup pigs all the rage, but animal welfare group urges people to do homework before taking one home

TAKE THE BEST FRIENDS PIGNORANCE QUIZ

--------TRUE OR FALSE? -------

Pigs are dumb FALSE!!

Pigs are smarter (and easier to housetrain) than dogs. Its true! They arent always obedient though kind of like cats!

Pigs are dirty FALSE!!

Pigs are clean and do not smell when living a healthy life. They use mud to keep cool because nature designed them to do so. Humans go to spas for mud baths does that make us unclean?

Pigs are fun TRUE!!

Pigs are FULL of personality! Some are quiet, some are comical, but all can be very affectionate!

Pigs can be trained TRUE!!

Pigs can be trained like dogs. They can be clicker-trained to learn commands and to perform tricks!

Pigs are fat and lazy FALSE!!

Yvonne feeding Brittney

When fed a proper diet full of healthy veggies, pigs will have curves, but wont be obese. They love to run and play, only pigs that have been misfed and/or overfed will be porky!

The current craze for mythical teacup pigs as pets will result in thousands of these animals ending up at overburdened sanctuaries, shelters and rescue groups when they outgrow their purported small size, according to Best Friends Animal Society.

Yvonne McIntosh, an animal care manager for Best Friends who is an expert on potbellied pigs, says she was horrified when MSNBC, The Today Show, New York Post and other media ran cutesy stories about supposedly tiny pigs and gushed when Paris Hilton and Rupert Gint, of Harry Potter fame, recently adopted supposed micro pigs.

You can call them teacup, mini, micro, or thimble, but the truth is the supposedly tiny pigs do not exist, says McIntosh who manages Piggy Paradise at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. People who think they are buying a pig that stays small are being fooled. Unscrupulous breeders are breeding pigs less than a year old, and by the time the litter is born, the parents still are only about eight months old and far below their full size.

McIntosh compares the small pig fad to a time when Los Angeles shelters were overwhelmed with small, purebred dogs that people bought so they could carry one in their purse, but eventually were abandoned in droves. When the novelty wears off, when the pig reaches 150 to 300 pounds instead of the 40 pounds it was supposed to be, or when people find out their local zoning doesnt allow pigs, there is no place for them to go and they become homeless. McIntosh has surveyed colleagues at pig sanctuaries and rescue organizations such as PigASus Sanctuary, Forgotten Angels Rescue & Education Center and Hamalot Pot Bellied Pig Rescue about their experiences with this trend. Some 300 full-to-capacity potbellied pig rescues throughout the country house approximately 300,000 potbellied pigs. And in the current economy, potbellied pig rescuers are also seeing increased requests to take in even more pigs.

One pig sanctuary owner received a call from a woman who wanted to dump the two potbellied pigs shes had for almost nine years so that she could buy teacup-sized pigs, McIntosh says.

Harley

Sadly, the lucky pigs may be the ones who end up in rescue. It is not uncommon for the pigs to be simply turned out as strays, even in cities. Many are taken to shelters and euthanized without any chance at adoption or placement. Other owners will kill the pigs or send them to auction where they can be bought for as little as $2 dollars and used to train fighting dogs or other similar fates.

A huge number of these little pigs also end up being stuck all alone in a small enclosure in a back corner of the yard, quite neglected once the novelty has worn off and the pig is fully grown, McIntosh said. Because they are extremely social animals, this is a torturous life for them. There are thousands and thousands of miniature pigs killed every year.

And while the media-driven craze for toy-size pigs continues, it totally blots out the most important fact that pigs are wonderful companion animals. At Best Friends our motto is rooting out pignorance one human at a time, McIntosh adds. There are scientific studies that show pigs are smarter than dogs. They can be trained to do tricks. They are easier to housebreak than dogs. They are clean animals who love affection and give it back on their pig terms of course. Socialized pigs actually crave human company.

Bringing a pig into your home is not quite the same as bringing home a dog or cat; pigs require specialized care and proper housing thats why it is so important to fully educate yourself before getting one, McIntosh says.

To learn more about the ever-engaging potbellied pigs, visit the Best Friends Pet Care Librarys section, You and Your Pig and the Piggy Paradise community on the Best Friends Network.

About Best Friends Animal Society:

Best Friends Animal Society is a nonprofit, membership organization building no-kill programs and partnerships that will bring about a day when there are No More Homeless Pets The society's leading initiatives in animal care and community programs are coordinated from its Kanab, Utah, headquarters, the country's largest no-kill sanctuary. This work is made possible by the personal and financial support of a grassroots network of members and community partners across the nation. In 2009, Best Friends celebrates its 25th anniversary.

For more information contact:
Barbara Williamson
(435) 644-2001, ext. 4408,
(435) 689-0200 (cell) or
barbara@bestfriends.org

John Polis
(435) 644-2001, ext. 4858 or
johnp@bestfriends.org

Temma Martin
(801) 953-8876 (cell) or
temmam@bestfriends.org