Yvonne McIntosh, Piggy Paradise Manager
Yvonne McIntosh, the manager of Piggy Paradise at Best Friends, has been on staff since November 2005. She has always had a strong bond with animals. While growing up, Yvonne always had dogs and cats and various other little critters. At one time during her childhood, she lived on a small farm and considers that the best part of her childhood by far.
Even though Yvonne always knew she wanted to work with animals and had intended on making it a career choice, she allowed herself to veer off her intended path. Before coming to Best Friends, she was a staff accountant, co-owner of a classic auto restoration facility, a landscaper and an automotive service consultant. Even though she did some volunteer and animal rescue work during those years, it never felt like it was enough.
Yvonne had read about Best Friends Animal Society several times in newspapers, but she couldn't leave her cat, Tigger. Tig was her feline soul mate. He was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Yvonne refused to leave him, even to take a vacation. When Tig eventually crossed over, Yvonne knew she needed to go somewhere to try to heal her heart.
She chose Best Friends and stayed in one of the sanctuary cottages for almost three weeks. During her stay, she realized that she felt more at home at the sanctuary than she had anywhere else. So, in November 2005 she moved to Kanab with her husband and their two cats. They immediately added to their family by adopting two dogs, Lady and Callahan.
Yvonne's first job was as a general caregiver for Horse Haven. Eventually, she worked her way up and became known as the Pig Lady. Her days are now devoted to Best Friends potbellied pigs ... all 16 of them! As a pig caregiver, Yvonne prepares their meals twice a day, provides fresh water, poop scoops, replaces straw, grooms the pigs, repairs their enclosures and helps with anything else they need to have done.
She admits that she never imagined she would be caring for pigs and did not know too much about them before working at Best Friends. She is now the sanctuary expert on these intelligent creatures and enjoys learning how to better care for them and make their lives richer. "I adore my pigs and truly enjoy interacting with them," says Yvonne. "They have such wonderful personalities and, yes, they really are smarter than dogs!"
