It seems that almost every day now a new celebrity is adopting a little micro pig, and if we’re being honest, we don’t blame them. There is nothing cuter than a tiny pig that can fit in a teacup. If you are bold enough, maybe you can even carry around a little pet pig in your purse.
Miley Cyrus, Megan Fox, Paris Hilton, and even George Clooney are among the multitudes of public figures that have all at some point in the past owned a micro pig.
The keyword here is past. Reason being is because most of those tiny pigs if cared for properly eventually grow up and become big pigs, and a big pig no longer is cute and cuddly. Instead, it is just a pig.
Princess Piggelette the pig! pic.twitter.com/FsMUKROhVT
— Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) October 15, 2017
But ‘What,’ you say… ‘I thought “teacup” pigs were a thing?!’
Well, unfortunately, it’s time for a little public service announcement — “teacup” pigs don’t actually exist.
In fact, there is no such thing as a micro breed at all.
Any micro pigs you see are typically just potbellied pigs who are either underfed so that their growth is stunted, or who haven’t yet grown up.
The sad reality is that breeders aren’t always exactly straightforward about this fact. This often leads to a very shocked owner as their supposed micro pig, much to their surprise, just keeps growing and growing. However, this is the best case scenario. At times, attempts to keep a pig small can lead to outright animal abuse.
This is exactly what happened to Beacon the pig, who in his hunched over and timid form is currently no bigger than a gallon of milk.
Beacon was sold to a family who was told by the breeder that he was a micro pig.
The breeder also said that in order to keep him small, they should only feed him tiny amounts of food, and keep him in as small a cage as possible.
This would ensure that his growth would be stunted and that he would remain micro.
The owners took the advice to heart and decided to keep Beacon in a fish tank.
Sadly, this is where he would spend all most of his young life, trapped in a tank designed for small fish, not a growing pot belly pig.
Eventually, two years later, the owners decided they could no longer care for him, and posted an adoption ad on Craigslist.
One woman, Anna Hoffman, saw the photos of the poor malnourished animal and decided she had to do something. In an interview with The Dodo, she elaborated further:
“When I picked Beacon up, I was in complete shock,” Hoffman said.
“The pictures I had seen were awful, but in person, it was even worse. His hooves were about 3 inches long and he couldn’t even walk properly. He was so skinny, all you saw was bone. He was terrified of everything. I tried to offer him a small piece of cookie to see if he would come near me but he wouldn’t.”
When she arrived to pick him up, Beacon was so scared he didn’t even want to go in the crate she brought to transport him back to her house, but finally, after much effort, she managed to get him in. The next day, the first thing she did was take him to the vet.
The doctors were shocked at how tiny and frail he was, but luckily after doing some x-rays, they decided that he hadn’t suffered any permanent damage. He just needed to eat more… a lot more.
As a 2-year-old pot bellied pig, Beacon should have weighed around 50 lbs. Instead, he weighed just 11.
Hoffman began to introduce more food into his diet, little by little so as not to shock his fragile system.
In addition to his weight issues, Beacon also suffered from massive anxiety from being kept in such a small cage his whole life.
“When I first got him, he was terrified of anyone and everything,” Hoffman said.
“I spent hours and hours sitting near his crate, talking to him and trying to pet him. I would put his crate near me and leave the door open so he could venture out at his discretion.”
As the weeks and months passed, Beacon slowly began to recover. He got more friendly and confident, and quickly gained a lot of weight.
He was starting to look healthy again and was finally living the life he deserved to live. He even had a new friend, Hoffman’s other pet, a pig named Charlotte.
Now, Beacon has a huge area to explore and spends his days happily running around outside, rolling in the grass, and eating as much as he wants!
Although it is amazing that this lucky pig was able to make a full recovery, not all pigs out there are as lucky as Beacon.
Having a pet pig is great — they are fun, sociable, and extremely intelligent animals. However, for anyone who chooses to adopt a pig, it is important to know what you are getting yourself into. Pigs need plenty of food, space to run, and it is definitely no easy task to care for one.
Let’s all be responsible pet owners, and if someone ever tries to sell you a micro pig, remember, they are lying! There is no such thing.
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Source: The Dodo
