Stewardship and Care of the Potbellied Pig

The unhappy history of Pigs as pets

Pigs have been studied extensively in the last 10 years. The findings are no surprise to those of us who have lived with pigs for decades and seen their intelligence at work.

Pigs are as intelligent as humans and in many areas of testing, they out perform us every time.

To endeavor to hold them as a pet is to demean what nature has created, a sentient, sapient being with as much intellect, emotional and social need as most people you will encounter in your life. They can be our companions and our friends if given the right opportunity and care, but not our property.

Use facts, not fiction, to lead your way in caring for any animal, but most importantly one who is as misrepresented as the pig. Breeders and placement agencies have reasons to disguise , bend, color the truth to further their own agendas, and pigs suffer every day because of it.

Shepherd's Green publishes these pages is to help you find the facts you need.

Pigs as companions, buddies, family members, [maybe even bridge partners if they didn't cheat ! ] explains the kind of relationships we find with our pig friends. Keeping them healthy and happy is the goal of any steward, especially when what they need is not something you want them to need. But listen with your heart and think about what you hear. His life depends entirely on your willingness to provide for him. He is not here on this earth to enrich your life, but if given the respect and care needed for his well-being, he will certainly do so.

About our new care pages:

For years vets and other sanctuaries have pointed their clients to our site as the most comprehensive and educational site available. You readers have reinforced this with your many emails of thanks. Over 100,000 times a year we have had visitors at our site seeking help. With this demand for factual information we have taken the old web pages and shredded them, building the new site from the bottom up to improve the navigation and depth of resources available.

Find what you need more easily and lead you to other areas of interest on our site and through links.. On the Table of Contents below, just click the topic heading.

We will tie in more outside educational links to textbook information, broadening the information you have available at one site. Watch for the book symbol. It will connect you to additional information.

As time allows we will be adding many more graphics and photos of every topic, from housing to health care to wild foods to better support the topic.

We have included the full content of our health training seminar, The Sick Pig, as well as topics prepared specifically for our Pig Wellness Series of electronic newsletters. (You can sign up on line to get started with health care topics here) . Old issues are archived here.