Peppermint pig gets a new squeal on life
It doesn’t take long for Peppermint to realize people are there to see her.
The healthy pink piglet is swaddled in a blanket and immediately reaches her snout into the hand of her surrogate mom, Michelle Allgaier, nuzzling for attention.
“A momma pig would actually build a nest, so we’re kind of imitating that here,” she said, pointing out the dog bed and blankets around Peppermint. “She’ll be in the house for at least seven weeks and follow me around on chores and get to know the other pigs.”
Soon after, Peppermint will be introduced to her new friends at Allgaier’s Noble Animal Sanctuary in Prosser.
It’s a long way from where Peppermint was just three weeks ago.
It’s a long way from the pound-and-a-half piglet that arrived at the sanctuary three weeks ago.
A young man took pity on Peppermint, rescuing the underweight piglet from the auction block for $25. But it didn’t take long for him to realize he wasn’t up to bottle feeding the farm animal several times a day.
So he turned to the sanctuary. Pictures show the piglet’s hipbones were visible, and Allgaier said the animal was not eating and couldn’t keep warm.
While it didn’t appear Peppermint was mistreated, she would need extra attention if the pound-and-a-half piglet was going to survive.
“The likelihood of babies that small surviving without its mother and siblings is very low,” Allgaier said. “She slept in bed with me for the next 24 hours and she got carried around in my shirt and she wasn’t eating much.”
But within hours, the baby was suckling a bottle and happily nudging Allgaier’s hand, and in three weeks she’s grown to 8 pounds.
She dressed in a snuggly sweater, because young pigs can’t regulate their body temperature, she said.
When Peppermint grows up, she’ll weigh close to 800 pounds and stand about as tall as a large dog. This is on the large side for pigs, but even the tiniest of pigs tip the scales at nearly 200 pounds, Allgaier said.
Her nonprofit sanctuary is home to 14 pigs, most came from people who impulsively bought a “teacup” pig, only to quickly learn they will grow weigh hundreds of pounds if properly fed.
Allgaier, an artist and yoga instructor, started the sanctuary two years ago with her partner, as a way to save animals from being slaughtered. She said it was a childhood dream to work on a farm. This gives her a chance to have farm animal friends without needing to slaughter them.
Along with selling grapes, they also survive on donations and other support.
When she’s old enough Peppermint will join the other pigs outside, along with three mini-donkeys, two horses, nine chickens, two ducks, five cats and four dogs.
“All of our pigs are here forever,” Allgaier said.