Family Adopts Pig They Nearly Slaughtered and Ate for Christmas

By Amanda Thomason January 7, 2019 at 3:48pm

Pigs: One of the starter set of farm animals we learn about as children. A farm has chickens, cows, horses, and pigs (a bit reductive, but you get the idea).

Most of the time, interactions with these squealing critters is reserved for petting zoos and dinner plates, but there’s a lot more to these animals than meets the eye.

The first thing to know is that they’re not great pets for everyone. Even the recently popularized “micro” or “mini” pigs are just small pot-bellied pigs, which grow up to be 100 to 150 pounds. No human-sized animal really counts as “mini,” does it?

And if we’re talking about the farm variety, those piggies can reach over 600 pounds, which means you do what they want to do, and not vice versa.

Pigs need space. They need lots of food. Their care isn’t as well-known and cultural as that of dogs or cats, and supplies for them are not as readily available. Still, some people do their research and decide they want to take the plunge.

But even with the best of intentions and the most thorough research, a would-be pig owner can still be in for the surprise of their lives. You may have heard of Esther the Pig, who is a prime example of a piggy surprise.

Her “About” page on Facebook describes her story. “Esther is a pig, that’s really all we know since she was misrepresented as a “micro-pig”. She was born in Summer of 2012 to what we believe was a commercial farm litter. She was somehow removed, perhaps because she was a runt?, and she found her way to us.”

“We expected a mini pig, Esther is what we got. Please do plenty of research and consider adoption of your pig if you really feel you are up to being a piggy parent. It is an amazing experience and she has changed our lives in amazing ways however; it was a ton of work.”

“This isn’t Esther’s fault, she didn’t ask for the life she was given. We have the chance to provide her with the life she deserves, not the one she was bred for. What kind of people would we be to deny her that? She deserves everything we can ever give her. For Esther and for all the other pigs out there we haven’t been able to save……yet.”

Esther lives a life most people would be happy to have, with plenty of attention and affection from her owners, tons of cool outfits to wear, and a comfortable life in the house. And food. Lots of gourmet, home-made food.

Joining the ranks of food-turned-pet is Rosinha, a pig in Brazil who had a close brush with death. According to TV UOL, the family, headed up by Estael Maurício, was looking forward to a Christmas tradition: fattening up a pig and enjoying it for Christmas.

One problem. Mom, dad and kids got attached to the big pink pig and couldn’t go through with eating her. So now Rosinha lives a very comfortable life with the family.

She occasionally wears a harness, gets baths, walks alongside her owner and enjoys getting pet by neighbors and kids. She even sleeps next to the parents’ bed at night.

While Rosinha may not know what fate she barely escaped, it’s clear that she’s living high on the hog, and she seems to have settled into house life rather nicely.

Submit a Correction →