Josie with Ellie, the one-eared pig.

I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about pot bellied pigs. I really don’t. I know people keep them as pets. I’m pretty sure most people don’t eat them. I know they’re not raised on factory farms. What I didn’t know is that they have many of the same issues dogs and cats do in our disposable society. Recently my friend Linda suggested that we take a trip down to southern Arizona and visit the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary, a 70-acre place that houses 600+ pot bellied pigs! This little trip opened my heart and my mind to the nature of these adorable animals as well as the struggles they face.

I’ll start by introducing you to Ellie. Who says you can’t play favorites? Ellie was mine. This adorable black pig was so friendly she came up to me just like my dogs do and sniffed me all over. She loved it when I scratched her rough head and around her one ear. Yep, only one ear. Why? Because she was attacked by dogs and nearly didn’t survive. She lost her ear but gained a huge affection for people since she received care many hours a day. Not all the pigs at Ironwood have experienced such troubled pasts. Most were bought as young piglets and once they reached 100, 200, 300+ pounds their owners did not want to care for them anymore. Just like puppies. Cute as can be when they’re little … aren’t we all? But then they grow up.

What are pot bellied pigs like?

Sharpei-looking pot bellied pig.

I was amazed that these pot bellied pigs could reach 300 pounds. Reason being that people breed true pot bellies with all kinds of other pigs. True pot bellies I think typically stay pretty small (i.e. 100 pounds). The majority of the pigs at Ironwood are on the bigger side. One looks like a giant sharpei! They snort, grunt, love to eat, and generally seem interested in people. Some let us pet them while others were more skiddish. Their bellies are so big they hang to the ground. Being that I’m 8 months pregnant, I can’t imagine how that feels! They must have back aches worse than mine right now!

Pot bellied pigs are of the same species as wild pigs and farm-raised pigs. This means they can interbreed … which is how these hybrid versions have come to be. While you might think that a pot bellied pig would be a good housemate to dogs, they aren’t. Dogs are predators and pigs are prey. So despite their large size, pigs easily end up on the loosing side of an attack by dogs. As omnivores, they eat pig chow, vegetables and fruits. They need living accommodations that allow them to be outside in the dirt. They get vital nutrients from rooting in the soil and would not be happy if they were kept in a house at all times.

Why are they at this sanctuary?

Just like the dogs I deal with all the time in companion animal rescue, these pot bellied pigs are homeless because they’ve been cast off by their owners. Some times people move and don’t take their pigs with them. Other times the pigs become “inconvenient” for the owner’s lifestyle; either they’ve grown too big or they require more care than the owner wants to deal with. Pot bellied pigs are also victims of abuse and neglect, which is tragically sad. In fact our wonderful tour guide at Ironwood said they are very stringent about who can adopt pigs from the sanctuary because even adopters with good intentions in the beginning tend to neglect the pigs needs over time.

Why eat one but not the other?

Two standard-size pigs that were supposed to be raised as food. They will live out their lives at Ironwood, never becoming ham or bacon.

This question plagued my mind as I toured this sanctuary with dozens of other people especially as we stopped to visit with a group of full-size pigs that were rescued as piglets from a farmer who abandoned them. I find it highly unlikely that the majority of visitors were vegan. I could be wrong here but judging by the amount of vegans in mainstream society, I think I’m probably right. Yet almost everybody was expressing how cute they thought these pot bellied pigs were.

So why do people eat pigs raised as farm animals but not pot bellied pigs which they consider to be companion animals? The two types of pigs are part of the same species. They have nearly identical needs when it comes to their food, environment, and emotional well being. And yet pot bellies are most often kept as pets while standard pigs are tortured, confined, deprived of their needs, and horrendously slaughtered for human food. This inability for people to make the connection between two pigs, which essentially differ only in size,  baffles me.

I was so happy to find that all of the staff members at Ironwood are vegetarians and I was pleasantly surprised to see their refreshment table contained only vegetarian (and several vegan) treats for the human sanctuary guests.

How can we help?

Imagine the task at hand for the four people who maintain Ironwood Pig Sanctuary. Yes, only four people manage to care for 600+ pigs every day. The sanctuary is funded primarily by donations. So if you can find it in your heart to help some pigs, here are my suggestions:

1. Don’t eat them (no matter what size).
2. Visit a pig sanctuary if there is one close to you.
3. Donate money, food, blankets, construction supplies, or your time to a reputable sanctuary.

Together we can help make a difference for these adorable animals.

Let’s start with the most common … people who swear they love their dogs and cats but happily throw cow’s flesh or chicken’s flesh on their grill for dinner. Now if you’re one of these people, what gives? I mean really. Do you look into the eyes of your dog or cat and tell them that you love them? Do you let them sleep in your bed? Do you think about them when you’re away? Do you think they are capable of loving you back? Then why wouldn’t a cow, pig or chicken be just as capable? The reality is that they ARE just as capable. And yet, we force them into torturous, confining conditions and kill them just so we can eat their flesh and steal their body’s byproducts. Would you do that to your dog or cat? Would you hang Fluffy by her hind legs, blow a hole in her head, strip off her skin and eat her belly? Um, I don’t think so. Come on … let’s start making the connections.

Now let’s talk about another group of people who are under my skin recently. These are the folks who call themselves “rescuers”. I must preface by saying that I have a lot of rescue friends. I am a self proclaimed “rescuer”. Many of these people are well intentioned. I do not pass judgment on them individually but on a general principal as a group of people, I do find some “rescue” behavior odd.

On the surface, rescue people seem very kind. They spend every weekend and many hours of every day springing dogs and cats from the pound or scooping them up off the dangerous streets where they may be running stray,  injured and homeless. They bring these dogs and cats into their houses. They treat them like children. They love them, buy them great food, give them toys, and worry about their well being. They spend enormous amounts of money caring for these animals. And then they sit down to dinner to gnaw on the hind legs of a cow or a chicken’s breast. Do these folks think that perhaps that cow liked it’s hind leg attached to it’s body? Or that that chicken needed its breast to keep it’s lungs and heart safe? Probably not. But why not?

And why is it that when I challenge these ideals, these groups of people get incredibly angry and defensive? I am at a loss here and finding myself a bit frustrated. I have been working hard here in the Phoenix area to bring ideals of veganism to the forefront of people’s minds. Over the past few weeks I have been working with a local rescue group to purchase booth space at a very large upcoming event. The rescue’s event coordinator was so excited to have vegan booth at this popular animal event. We had everything settled and I was prepared to have a booth with literature about factory farming with delicious vegan food samples. But just this past weekend, the event coordinator took my information to the board for approval and they denied me! Yes, the board denied me! Do you want to know why? Because there is a hamburger-slinging vendor that attends these animal rescue events and this hamburger-slinging vendor shares its profit with the animal rescue.

You see my booth was going to offer free samples of delectable vegan food and apparently this was too much of a threat to their bottom line. So I ask you, does the death of one animal justify the means of another? Does killing cows for money to save dogs really make a difference in the overall health and welfare of animals on this planet?

This rescue is not the only one. There are rescues that sell animal products like leather hand bags or shoes at auctions to raise money for their dogs and cats. Then several others have fancy banquet events where they serve up cows, chickens and pigs to celebrate their great achievements in rescue-land. They justify it by saying that people pay a lot of money to attend these black tie events and they need to feel that they are getting their money’s worth. Again, selling out the cows to save the dogs and cats.

To me, this is so upsetting. If you can’t tell by my unusual and unapologetic tone tonight. I’m at a loss of understanding as to where these folks come from. Is it too difficult to make the correlation between the animals your hug and kiss every day and the animals on your plate?

According to popular podcaster Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, the average 75-year-old meat eater that resides in the United States is responsible (in their life time) for the death of:

• 10 cows,
• 34 pigs, and
• 2,535 turkeys, ducks, and chickens.

Now I ask you … if the average rescuer saves 10 animals a year and continues to eat as most Americans do, they will have killed more lives than they would have saved. Yes, that is correct. They would have KILLED MORE LIVES THAN THEY SAVED.

All I’m saying to the rescue that denied me for the hamburger-slinging vendor … open your minds. Buck conventionalism. Ask the deep questions of yourself and the world around you. Is this how you want to live? Killing more than you’re saving? At the very least, can’t you accept the mere presence of a peaceful and compassionate vegan in the midst of a hamburger-eating crowd? I think the cows would appreciate it. Heck, I’ll even bring vegan treats for the dogs!

Watch a video of Sundae and the pups.

Sundae was spotted cruising the streets of southwest Phoenix for several days. Finally some rescue people were alerted and one brave woman in particular, Mary, came to Sundae’s rescue. You see Sundae had a belly full of pups, a prolapsed uterus and an umbilical hernia. Um, ouch! She was quite a mess to say the least. What does all that mean? Well the hernia (intestines pushing through her abdominal wall) was so big Mary couldn’t tell for sure if Sundae was pregnant. The prolapsed uterus was likely because she was trying to give birth but the pups and they were not coming out. Basically her uterus (which normally resides happily in a female’s body) was hanging out her back end. Gross!

Lucky for Sundae, after hours of searching and talking with neighbors, Mary found her. She was taken to a vet where her wounds were fixed up and out came four pups via c-section. Four pups! Honestly we thought the pups would be dead. But they weren’t! Four precious pups, 3 girls and 1 boy. Check out their story in this awesome 3 minute video. Mom and pups are all available for adoption at www.mixedupmutts.net.

Name: Nate
Dob: 2/1/08
Vet Care: Neuter/eye removal 2/16/9, Rabies/DPPV 2/20/09
Temperament: Good with people, dogs, cats and kids

Nate the dog is available for adoption at www.mixedupmutts.net

Where do I start my life story? That’s a tough question for anybody much less a formerly homeless pit bull. Well I could go on and on about how life sucked but I’ll just start from the moment things started looking up for me. You see I was sitting in the middle of a busy road. I was SO confused and scared! All these cars were swerving around me and honking at me. I didn’t know what to do so I just sat there. Then this nice guy stopped and opened his car door for me. He looked so friendly; I jumped right in! How lucky was I? Turns out this guy works for one of the best vet clinics in town, www.vetmetconsultatnsaz.com. He took me right to work where the doctors looked me over. I was in rough shape.

My right eye was totally screwed up. They said something about having a trauma but I don’t really know what that means. All I know is that it hurt a lot! So they took it out. Yep, they took my whole eye out but, hey, it doesn’t really bother me much. I just have a little trouble if someone stands on my right side, I kind of bump into them a lot but people seem to think that’s kind of funny. The good news is that vet said I shouldn’t have any ongoing problems with the eye.All these nice peps at the vet office kept saying what a sweetie-pie I am. Well, shucks. What can I say? I just know that a little bit of manners go a long way. That’s why I always sit nicely when someone comes to pet me. I haven’t jumped on anybody and I don’t even lick people all over like some dogs do. These people at VETMED are so fun! They set me up in a kennel and let me play with one of the vet’s dogs at night when everybody is gone. They take me for walks and gave me toys. This is a totally new concept to me. Well I guess they said I couldn’t live at VETMED forever so these really kewl peps from Mixed Up Mutts said they’d help out.

Nate the dog is available for adoption at www.mixedupmutts.net

Now I’m at this beautiful foster home. Can you believe my luck! I get to run around this huge yard. My foster mom and I are still learning about each other but so far we’re getting along just great! She’s already teaching me to sit and play fetch. Of course this is just temporary cuz my fosters have like a zillion other dogs. I’m looking for a forever home where someone will luv me forever! I’m a really good boy and smart … that’s what they tell me. All I know is I like to RUN around the yard and PLAY with my toys … oh yeah and food is good too. I may only have one eye but I have a big heart to make up for it.

If you are interested in being my lifelong companion, please fill out an application at http://www.mixedupmutts.net. You must be able to commit to me for my lifetime, which could be 10-15 years no matter what happens in your life – divorce, marriage, kids, moving, etc.

I’m pretty hooked up so if you want to keep in touch or watch my videos, check me out online.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/natethedog
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/jamminjosieluvsdogs

Nate the dog is available for adoption at www.mixedupmutts.net

Earthlings movie

If you haven’t already watched Earthlings, a documentary narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, run … don’t walk to rent it. I’ve just watched it and will write a commentary once I can digest it all. In the meantime, you can take this man’s word for it.

“This is the single most powerful and informative movie about society’s treatment of animals . A must see for anyone who cares enough to know”

- Woody Harrelson

I was very excited a few days ago when I noticed a documentary on HBO about Ingrid Newkirk. She is someone that grabbed my attention a few years back. Yet the more I came to know of her, the more puzzled I became. I hoped this documentary might help shed some light on her work as an animal activist and the co-founder of PETA.

That it did … and even more so than I could have thought. It’s not like anything described in the documentary was new. They portrayed Ingrid as a passionate animal rights activist, a media whore, and an extremist. Many people think Ingrid is absolutely nuts. I do think she creates this “buzz” for herself. At one point in the documentary she says that she wants her flesh carved up after she dies to be barbecued (like that of an animal), her skin made into a wallet or handbag, and one eye to be delivered to a high powered government official to remind him that PETA will always be watching.

Now that may sound crazy but I truly feel that whatever Ingrid wants to do with her body when she’s dead is her issue. What I have a problem with are her tactics to uncover animal cruelty in factory farms. She has a whole team of people that land jobs as factory farm workers. Their job – as an animal rights activist – is to act like a factory farm worker would and to document cruelty while there. This means that these undercover PETA workers kill thousands of animals! In the documentary HBO interviewed two men who killed literally thousands of turkeys in a Butterball factory to get just two hours of video footage which was a bit disturbing but rather blurry and ineffective.

I feel that people working towards the compassionate treatment of animals are generally doing a good thing. Yet after watching this biography, I could not help thinking that the means absolutely do not justify the means. How can an animal rights activist literally kill thousands of animals just to get some video footage? I think in the end, the footage didn’t have a large effect in passing legislation anyway. Other organizations seem to find a way to get footage without slaughtering animals.

I was also really puzzled by Ingrid’s continued discussion that some animals need to die. At one point they show her “rescuing” a pit bull off a chain only to put it to sleep. I have participated in dog rescue for many years and I think they could have saved the dog. It had tick fever and needed a blood transfusion … all of which can be treated by compassionate vets. Yet, Ingrid chose to put the dog to sleep. Why? Was it too much of an inconvenience to help this dog? Was it too expensive? Would it be too hard to find a home for a pit bull? None of these questions were answered and Ingrid felt justified in her decision. I, on the other hand, was greatly puzzled by it.

To me the definition of an animal rights activist is someone who works day in and day out for the welfare of all animals. Whether they be dogs or cows or chickens, a true animal rights activist would not bring harm to any animal in order to achieve some strange personal goal that has little effect for the animals or on people. I am so troubled by this documentary, I’m just not sure how any person that truly wants compassion for animals could support PETA.

I say this with a cautious heart because I am grateful to PETA in may ways. I attended a conference several years ago and it was my first exposure to veganism and animal suffering on a large scale. I am thankful for PETA bringing the animal’s plight to my attention. However I am apalled at their tactics at gathering the information to pursuade people to choose this lifestyle. How can one say to themselves, “I’m goign to go kill 2,000 turkeys today, so that people will stop eating them.” That is just absurd!

Over time my husband and I have adopted two pit bulls. People are still not sure what to say when I tell them we have four dogs: two pit bulls, a Labrador and a hound. I was hanging out with a great friend from out of town yesterday and he had to admit that he’s afraid of pit bulls. I don’t blame him really. If you haven’t had interactions with the breed and all you know is what you hear on TV, then yeah, I can see how people would be scared.

Any who … those of us that do interact with pit bulls regularly know how wonderful they are. This doesn’t stop practically every form of media – TV, newspapers, magazines, internet sites, etc. – from making them out to be villainous monsters. Today I was thinking that things on the whole are getting better for pit bulls. People are standing up for them and organizations like BADRAP in San Francisco are doing wonders for portraying pit bulls in a positive light. Despite their efforts, I’m afraid many, many Americans still despise, hate, or fear pit bulls.

BUT THEY DON’T EAT THEM!

Score one for the pit bulls! It’s so strange that Americans on the whole (probably I’m assuming here – maybe even using strong language) hate pit bulls. On the other hand, they seem to love farm animals. I mean children’s books are written about farm animals. Charlotte’s Web, Kiss the Cow, Open the Barn Door, Pat the Bunny … I could go on and I’m sure you could too. So we as a whole revere farm animals … we teach our kids to think they’re cute, cuddly and friendly. Then we serve them up at the dinner table.

Isn’t there something so odd about that? Society on the whole probably hates pit bulls but they don’t eat them. They adore farm animals and chomp away on their body parts. Hmmmm … now that is some food for thought. Oh yes the pun is intended

My precious pitties - Athena and Amalfi. Sadly Athena passed on over a year ago but Amalfi is going strong!

Our precious pittie Cusco - she's a bit looney too as you can see!

A beautiful cow - she looks lovely not yummy.

I was talking to a equine veterinarian last weekend and she explained it like this … there are “food animals” and then all other animals. I asked a few times what is the difference between horses and pigs or cows. The answer was always the same. They’re “food animals” and horses are not. I reminded this vet that not so long ago – like last year – horses were considered food animals. “Yeah but it’s different and that’s not legal anymore.” Why is it different? I fail to have an answer as to why people see it this way.

However I’m thankful for the vegans, vegetarians and even meatatarians that came to the walk today. I expected it to be like all other walks but these great Farm Sanctuary peps actually made signs with cute farm animals on them. They said things like “go veg” and “don’t eat farm animals”. As we lined up to start the walk my friend Linda commented that it seemed a bit like a protest. I was immediately excited as I’ve never been part of a protest! I don’t think protest was the intention but like with all Farm Sanctuary efforts they seek to raise awareness.

We peacefully meandered through downtown Phoenix through Margaret T. Hance park. We received a few thumbs up and honks from cars but most of the journey was through the park and our main audience was homeless people. Our biggest fan started chanting “no sex with farm animals”! We all agreed to that! When all was said and done, Farm Sanctuary raised $3,000 at the Phoenix walk. $3,000. Come on Phoenix, we can do better than that! Next year I hope we get to $20,000 … hey why not think positively