In August of 2022, Andy was at the DMV, and he happened to be wearing his “Compassion” pig t-shirt from Farm Sanctuary. A woman on her way in saw his shirt and asked him if he had pigs, and he explained that we run a sanctuary for pigs and other animals in need. She, she said, had two pigs in need: a pair of brothers for whom she could no longer care due to her situation as a wounded veteran. Even people who love their pigs and care for them well struggle if they have a change in life circumstances, because there are simply no safe homes for pigs. There is no space in “companion animal” shelters for pigs, and often pet pigs are surrendered to slaughterhouses simply because owners think they have no other options. A week after this serendipitous meeting, Joshua and Biff, whose names we chose from Christopher Moore’s Lamb, came to join our sanctuary family. They are shy but are extremely talkative.
In November, we noticed that Josh had a limp that wasn’t diminishing. We took him to Tufts, where they discovered a bone infection in his talus. This was serious, as the part of the bone that had to be removed to give him a chance at survival was closely connected to the synovial tissue that allows those of us with legs to walk. After a difficult and expensive ten days, Josh was recovered from a successful surgery performed by brilliant and dedicated veterinarians, and he came home, a little sad to no longer be showered with love by all of the incredible vet techs at Tufts.
Josh has now fully recovered from his surgery, and he and Biff have adopted Benny, our little gray pig, as their brother. The three sleep together every night and are always the first ones awake in the morning, ready to alert the family to the arrival of breakfast.
