Where Can I Buy A Pet Pig Near Me
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Like all pigs, pet pigs are seemingly always looking for food. Pigs are foragers, meaning they spend a large portion of their day turning over ground to seek out roots, bulbs, insects, small rodents and even reptiles for their next meal. To keep them healthy and stimulated, pigs need a varied and nutritious diet and an outdoor area where they can root for their food as they would naturally.
Food can cause friction between pet pigs and their human housemates, as their drive to forage can lead them to overturn bins and other containers, and they are intelligent enough to open fridges, cupboards and pantries in order to reach the food inside. If pigs are not being fed sufficiently or they simply like food that bit too much, they can demonstrate dangerous behaviour towards anyone who tries to go near their food. This type of aggression also means pigs may harm people, especially children, who are holding food, in the hopes of getting the food from them.
It is important to remember that pigs can get quite large. Even smaller varieties like the pot-bellied pig can grow to weigh between 80 and 160 pounds on average. Miniature pigs will also continue to grow until they reach maturity, which occurs around three to five years of age. However, pet pigs weigh nowhere near as much as farm pigs which can reach up to 600 to 1000 pounds.
One of the namesakes of Piggins and Banks, Mary Piggins is a certified Therapy Pet Pig by the American Mini Pig Association and also an internet celebrity. As a certified therapy pet pig she is able to volunteer at public organizations, retirement homes, schools, etc. where she can visit and bring smiles to those needing a good cheering up.
You could say a little bit of destiny brought Dude (or The Dude as we like to call him) to Piggins and Banks. You see, he is from Pasadena, MD where two of our founding team members grew up (Aaron and Joshua Riddle). He is one of the absolutely sweetest pigs you will ever meet. His owner felt he would be happier in the country amongst other pigs rather than stuck in a community without a friend. We love having Dude here with us! (Learn more about his history: Welcome Dude the Pig from Pasadena, MD)
Lucky will grow to be the biggest pig here at Piggins and Banks. He is not a miniature pig but a farm hog and will grow to be nearly 800lbs! While our primary mission is giving a home to miniature pigs that have been kept as pets and are no longer wanted, we have a soft spot in our heart for pigs that are born with the ultimate goal of being slaughtered which is why we decided to save Lucky. (Learn more about his history: Lucky the Hog in Heaven at Piggins and Banks)
Bertha had a very rough life of over breeding, neglect, and was even discarded in a ditch left for dead until she was found by a kind man named Christopher Kirtley, who placed her in the care of Pigsburgh Squealers Rescue. There she was nursed back to health, and eventually placed into our care to live out her remaining days. She was able to make her home with us for close to two years where she was safe, loved, and had a wonderful friend in fellow pig Rosita. Eventually Bertha was unable to stand on her own and was not eating or drinking. Our experienced pig vet sadly recommended euthanasia as Bertha was simply shutting down from old age, and she left us the afternoon of June 10, 2022. Bertha had a very hard life, but the last few years of it were spent surrounded by people and pigs that loved and cared for her, showing that there is goodness and kindness in this world towards pigs. (Learn more about her history: Rough Life No More: Bertha the Pig Finds a Forever Home)
Service animals are defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Service animals are considered working animals and not pets. They are permitted in accordance with the ADA to accompany a person with a disability almost anywhere that the general public is allowed including businesses, restaurants, and airplanes. Service animals must be trained, in good health, well groomed, and may not disrupt the normal course of a business while accompanying the individual they serve. Examples of a service animal duties are guiding the blind, alerting people who are deaf, aiding wheel chair bound. Only service dogs and mini horses are recognized and protected under federal law and are granted additional rights outside of the job.
Over 95% of pigs used for human food in the US are raised in factory farms, where they never see the light of day. To say that these farms keep pigs from exhibiting normal behavior is an understatement. Here is the brief life journey of a typical factory-farmed pig:
In Europe and Asia, predation by natural predators can account for up to 25% of annual mortality at the population level (16). In the United States, however, humans are the most significant predator of wild pigs (5). Though predators such as coyotes (Canis latrans), bobcats (Lynx rufus), and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) may opportunistically prey upon immature wild pigs; it is only where wild pigs exist with American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), mountain lions (Puma concolor), and black bears (Ursus americanus) that any frequent intentional predation of the species may occur (17-19). Even where this type of predation does occur, it plays a minor role in wild pig mortality (5).
Pigs have the highest reproductive rate of any ungulate; but like reproductive maturity, it is highly variable among populations (23-25). Females (sows) have multiple estrous cycles annually and can breed throughout the year with an average litter size of 4-6 young per litter (5). The average gestation period for a sow is approximately 115 days and they can breed again within a week of weaning their young, which can occur approximately one month after birth (26, 27). Though it is a physiological possibility for a sow to have three litters in approximately 14 months (28), researchers found that in southern Texas adult and sub-adult sows averaged 1.57 and 0.85 litters per year, respectively (25). Birthing events can occur every month of the year, though most wild pig populations exhibit prominent peaks in birthing events that correlate with forage availability (25, 29) with peaks generally occurring in the winter and spring months (30). In areas where forage is not a limiting factor, such as lands in cultivation or where supplemental feeding for wildlife is common practice, reproduction rates can be higher than average (31).
Most damage caused by wild pigs is through either rooting or the direct consumption of plant and animal materials (5). Rooting is the mechanism by which wild pigs unearth roots, tubers, fungi, and burrowing animals (5, 46). They use their snouts to dig into the ground and turn over soil in search of food resources, altering the normal chemistry associated with nutrient cycling within the soil. Further, the mixing of soil horizons that often accompanies rooting by wild pigs has also been shown to alter vegetative communities, allowing for the establishment and spread of invasive plant species (33). It has been estimated that a single wild pig can significantly disturb approximately 6.5 ft2 in just one minute (47). This large-scale soil disturbance can increase soil erosion rates and have detrimental effects to sensitive ecological areas and critical habitats for species of concern (41, 48, 49). When wild pigs root or wallow in wetland or riparian areas, it tends to increase the nutrient concentration and total suspended solids in nearby waters due to erosion (48, 50).
Wild pigs are capable of carrying and transmitting at least 30 bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases which threaten humans, livestock, and wildlife (7, 57). Some of those which can infect humans are brucellosis, leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, and trichinosis (58). Though disease transmission to humans is a real concern, the largest threat from wild pig diseases is the potential transmission to domestic livestock. Diseases such as swine brucellosis, pseudorabies, classic swine fever, and African swine fever can result in birth defects and death of various livestock and wildlife species (7). Diseases such as classic swine fever and foot and mouth disease have been eradicated from the United States pork industry and are considered foreign-animal diseases. Wild pigs, however, have the potential to act as a reservoir for these diseases making it difficult or impossible to eradicate them again in areas with infected wild pig populations (59). A scenario where one of these diseases is reintroduced could cause crippling damage to the United States agricultural industry (7, 60). One extreme scenario is the reemergence of foot and mouth disease in the United States. If this disease were to be reintroduced to the domestic livestock industry, it could cause up to $21 billion in loss of agricultural income and a portion of small farmers to lose their farms (61). For more information on diseases transmissible to humans, domestic animals and wildlife, please see Diseases of Feral Swine (PDF).
Shooting wild pigs while flying in fixed wing or rotary aircrafts is often referred to as aerial gunning. Aerial gunning is a highly effective means of quickly reducing wild pig populations in areas with large expanses of sparse canopy cover and high densities of wild pigs (5, 73, 74). As visibility and population density decrease, however, so does the efficacy of this method in both cost and reduction of populations (56, 74, 75). Thus, this method is most effective in areas with sparse tree canopy and high wild pig densities. There is also some debate as to whether or not this method alters behavior in wild pig populations causing them to increase home ranges and learn to avoid aircraft, making them more difficult to find via helicopter (74, 76, 77). In private-land states like Texas, gaining permission and sufficient acreage from contiguous landowners can be a challenge. Similarly, the high costs associated with aircraft rental and pilots may not be feasible for some. However, where tree canopy allows, aerial gunning can be the most effective means of rapid wild pig population reduction available (56, 72). 781b155fdc