The Tale of Daisy the Pig

This is a story, a true story, of a little pig named Daisy. Daisy was purchased from an unethical breeder in eastern BC, who sold her at two months to a young girl in the Okanagon, whose family within a month decided to move and didn’t want to take the piggy with them.

Enter Denise. Denise and I had been in contact several times as she was hoping to adopt two of Scotch and Soda’s family, the piggies I’m fostering for Hearts on Noses. Although currently living in the city in the Okanagon, Denise has some acreage just outside the city that she will be moving to shortly and was in the process of getting it ready for piggies.

One day, Denise saw an ad for Daisy and contacted the owner to find out more. Daisy supposedly slept on the girl’s bed and was crate trained for times she had to be alone. She was friendly, healthy, and a sweet little pig. And she was living nearby.

Meanwhile, Denise and I kept talking piggy talk about what they need and how to house them and what to expect. Suddenly, a week or so after Denise had contacted Daisy’s human, she got a phone call – come and get Daisy or we’re taking her to the SPCA first thing in the morning.

Denise and I talked, we agreed she should take Daisy, and I offered to help guide her through new-pig-itis. The next day she picked up Daisy. (Note: This is not a slam against the SPCA, who have some amazing workers and volunteers, but an acknowledgement that I knew Denise could offer Daisy a wonderful life whereas the end result of going to the SPCA was unknown.)

Denise and I have talked on the phone or via email every few days since Daisy came to live with her. Daisy wasn’t quite what the previous owner had said – her skin was red and sore from mites, her crate was filled with urine-soaked blankets and she was totally unhousetrained and likely had been kept crated virtually all the time. But she was sweet, and she did like to cuddle on the couch, and she won Denise’s heart in no time at all.

Now, just a couple of weeks later, Daisy walks on a harness and leash, lives happily and safely with the family in the house, always does her business outside, jumps in and out of Denise’s Forerunner to go to the acreage every day, still loves to cuddle, and it sounds like she has even won over Denise’s husband. She is scheduled to get spayed next week by a vet with potbellied-pig experience at a clinic where one of the employees also has a piggy and where pigs are known and understood.

Daisy has landed on her feet. What a happy pig and a happy family.

Now if only I could persuade Denise that her acreage would be just perfect for several more piggies who need a place to call home!