Meet Beni, a blessed little pig, saved from someone’s plate.

After we lost Primo, we knew we would soon need to find another companion for Squidward, as pigs are extremely social animals and thrive being with others of their own species. Naturally, we needed some time to mourn, as did Squiddy, but knowing whomever we brought home would need to quarantine, we knew the sooner we could find a good companion, the better. We were confident we’d be able to rescue someone soon, because unfortunately there are by far more pigs in need of good homes, than available good homes for pigs.

We spent the next 2 weeks looking diligently on rescue sights, and within our local community for pigs that needed a safe place to land, that would also be a good fit for Squid. With Squid being special needs and so small, we had to be mindful of the companion we brought in for him as pigs fight upon first meeting to establish their hierarchy, so we knew we couldn’t bring in a pig that could potentially injure him. We could only provide a safe haven for a smaller, which meant younger, pig then Squidward.

Beni is supposedly 4 months old today and we are already the third place he’s lived. Beni was originally born into what folks might refer to as an “irresponsible breeder” situation. A woman decided she wanted to do the backyard farming thing without learning or educating herself first. So, she had two pigs, one male and one female and within a short period of time she ended up with about 30 piglets. She never separated the male and female pigs, nor did she spay or neuter any of them, so naturally they continued to reproduce, being impregnated by each other, their own family members. She was unable to care for this many pigs and was quite overwhelmed when she found another backyard breeder to bring them in. The second location who offered to take them in, turned around and sold them all for roasting and BBQing. Before they were all taken away by their purchaser we asked if we could rescue one to provide Sanctuary to him and have him be a companion for our lone pig? Surprisingly, this woman agreed and allowed us to save one of the pigs from their unfortunate fate. We wish we could have saved them all and we tried as hard as we could to take more, but since we were not paying customers, we were only allowed the one. One of the most difficult things I have had to do, is pick one animal out of a group that I knew the horrible fate of just hours away. Innocent little beings, scared as could be, as they should be. They were terrified and ran together in a huddle as fast and as far away from us as they could, getting zapped by the electric wire each time they tried to back towards the fence.

We couldn’t be happier to get him loaded in the car knowing he was headed for safety, I choked back the tears and wrench in my gut as we had to drive away from the others. You may be asking why? But, in all honesty, with the estimated 77 BILLION farmed animals being killed EVERY YEAR for food around the World, (about 1 million/hour - just in the US) we know we will never be able to save them all. So, we feel the best we can do, is save the ones we are able to without financially contributing to the very systems that exploit them.

Little Beni is blessed and one of the extremely few fortunate ones. Beni, means blessed in French and since domesticated pigs originated from EuroAsia, we found his name to be perfectly suited.

Beni is quite small for his age and has likely been malnourished, which is common for breeders to do with mini-pig piglets, in hopes of keeping them small, by stunting their growth. He was rather jumpy and quite frightened the first day, running from me even when I wasn’t close. The second day, he had decided he would test me and was likely upset from being taken from his siblings. He would do a slight jump towards me while grunting and making a biting sound as if he was attempting to threaten to bite me and be dominate over me. I wouldn’t move, firmly say “No”, followed by my continued sweet nothings and sure enough day three, he was rolling over for belly rubs. He made sure to lay at a distance and remained on high alert, but for the first time he was giving me permission to touch him, which he had never done for any human before. He was learning that he was safe and could trust for the first time in his life. The next day, minutes after I sat down, he was snuggled up in my lap between my legs asleep. Good thing I had our ritual movie on, so I also nestled in and just enjoyed the memorable time with him.

He’s not much of a vegetable eater. He likes his sweets…banana, peanuts, strawberries, and of course his grain. The sauteed zucchini, carrot and kale, forget about it! What is this stuff?! He’ll sniff it for a while and rummage his snout around in it, but usually its all still sitting there when I come back as he looks up at me grunting in starvation! Then, of course he gets his grain which he happily slurps and munches on until the bowl is clean.

He had another big trip yesterday, as we traveled to WSU for his first vet appointment for vaccinations, a fecal, bloodwork, and overall physical. This morning he is getting neutered and as long as all goes well, we will be headed home this afternoon and he will be on the road to recovery and within in a short time hopefully meeting his new companion Squiddy.

I showed Squiddy a video of Beni the other day and Squiddy was very interested and nosing at the phone wondering how he could be with this other little pig. His eyes were bright and his soft grunts let me know that he is excited to meet his new friend. In the meantime, Pearl has been the sweetest little kitty spending extra time with Squid in his hay or out laying in the sun, she misses Primo too. Squid clearly misses his companion, but still goes down to root around on his hillside each day and lay out in the sun or next to his mud hole with Pearl. He has appreciated his extra special snacks, like cupcakes, and attention. He’s getting more belly rubs and cuddle time than ever and we even have some volunteers that play violin for him each week after they clean the barns.

We can’t wait until Beni and Squiddy get to be together and hope their friendship forms as quickly and seamlessly as it did for Squiddy and Primo.

Welcome home little Beni, you will forever be safe and loved.

Meet Lil’ Beni

Thanksgiving

In Loving Memory of Sweet Primo