Abigail, the pig of many moods. She can be sweet and lovable, wanting belly rubs and pets. She can be gnawing on the gate, threatening to eat you if you dare go through. She can stand patiently in front of you waiting for an ear scratching. She can be quietly walking past, then swing around and head slam your shins. With Abigail, you never know what to expect, yet we all love her. The pigs in Assisted Living have all accepted her as a member of their herd. She can often be found napping in the corner of the barn with Winston, Bubba and Norman or sharing the shade under the ramada with Emily and Swiney.

Iggy and Izzy are two 11 year old brothers who have been at Ironwood for almost 2 years. They lived at their previous owners’ place of business, but when the business was sold and the owners moved, the pigs were left behind. The new owners took good care of them, but really had no interest in keeping them. So, here they are living out the rest of their lives in comfort. The boys are never far apart and are the very best of friends. They have a wonderful sponsor named Errol who sends them animal crackers. Lucky pigs!

Charlotte arrived at Pigs*A*Lot very overweight and I was told by Lynnette that she became very depressed and refused to eat for nearly three weeks. When I volunteered there we always fed her in a small pen because she could not cope well with the herd. When we purchased the property Charlotte was there and in very poor shape. She was thin and dehydrated. I think she had given up trying to cope. We took her home to Ironwood and she, along with Ebony, Manny, Jack and Tippy have formed the Annex five who live in one of our Assisted Living fields and are all doing well together.

Louise is an adorable, sweet old gal who moves like a sloth. It takes her forever to walk towards her food bowl and eat. We have to stand guard over her while she finishes because the other pigs are much quicker and will come to take her food. Louise is very much in love with Bob, who in turn, is devoted to her. The two of them spend much of their time together. Don’t they make a cute couple!

Joann was rescued by Ben, Lynnette, and Mary, when they were volunteers at Pigs*A*Lot. Alady found her wandering the street and took her in. She was a potter and her name was Joann thus our Joann got her name. She had become very thin and had a large mammary tumor. We brought her home to Ironwood in Nov. of 2001. We spayed her and removed the tumor, which was indeed cancerous. She later developed two more tumors and Dr. Page removed those as well in April of this year. Joann recovered from both surgeries and continues to do well. She also has a wonderful sponsor who lives in Colorado. Joann is very sweet and one of Mary’s favorites. She likes people a lot but is not too fond of pigs.

Manny was yet another pig from Pigs*A*Lot. Manny, Mo, and Jack were living at Pigs*A*Lot when we first started to volunteer there. I don’t know their ages exactly but they were certainly not youngsters in 1998. When we purchased the Annex property we took Jack home to Ironwood with us. He and Manny both had large abscesses on their faces. We later took Manny home for treatment and he has stayed with us since he has needed repeated veterinary care.

Pearl has been with us for three years, another victim of divorce. The usual story of the wife leaving home, the husband is “stuck” with her pig and doesn’t want it, so now Pearl is living out the rest of her life in our Assisted Living field. Before going to the field, Pearl was a foster mom for two baby girls that needed the warmth and comfort of another pig. She did an excellent job and is still best friends with one of them, Sylvia who lives in the field with Pearl because of her physical disabilities.

My favorite senior, Swiney, is almost 14 years old and lives in our Assisted Living field. He arrived at Ironwood in March of 2003 with his sister Mabel and his adopted brother Grunt after their owner released them. When I arrived in March of this year, Swiney was one of the first pigs that I met. Early on my first training morning, he introduced himself to me by purposefully wobbling right into the Assisted Living feeding station. He almost pushed me aside as he eagerly sought his fortified breakfast. He hadn’t been feeling well recently and had lost interest in eating.

As a result, his meals had become a specially prepared gooey concoction of grain, puppy chow, fruits and veggies, and either peanut butter, yogurt, or cottage cheese. With such pig favorites, it was no surprise that his appetite was returning. He immediately plunged his snout into his dish and started eating.

Looking back, I’m not surprised how quickly I came to love Swiney. He charmed me completely on that first morning. Was it his large bat-like ears or the way his tongue was hanging out? Was it his polite patience as he waited for me to scoop up his leftover mush into bread for his dessert sandwiches? Maybe it was his speed-wobble into the feeding station and his stubborn refusal to budge when breakfast was finally over. Whatever it was, my time with Swiney quickly became my favorite part of the day.

Note from Jess

To a wise observer, all the signs of love were in the air. I would always be the first to volunteer to feed his field. I started saving apple and banana from my own breakfast for his special recipe. I would miss him terribly on my days off. I guess it was pretty obvious to everyone by the time I started officially referring to him as my Swiney-Love. Happily, I can report that my Swiney-Love is as fat and sassy as ever. His fortified diet helped him so much that after a few months we eased him back to just grain with some fruits and veggies. He didn’t hold it against us too much. He still waits at the gate every morning and every evening for the race to the feeding station. He still almost bowls me over if I don’t get in before him. And yes, of course, his tongue still hangs out.