[Gpdd] [CARE] living inside

[Brian Hanly]

These floods have made me very grateful that we keep our pigs inside.
Flooding was so violent in some places that water was chest high in seconds.
Many caged animals have been lost.  Even strong animals like horses were
goners.  Other times, water rose silently in the night.  One guy woke and
rescued his rabbits, others weren't so lucky.

There's the pros and cons of piggies inside.  Here, most are outdoor pets.
Some keep them extremely well, but many are just put out and ignored, alone,
or with a rabbit.  I would like to encourage more people here to keep them
indoors, because they thrive when protected from predators and the elements,
and because you can really get to know them better.  I think if they became
considered more as an indoor option, even people that kept them outside
might put more thought into really good housing and care.

Lastly folks, we are all living so far apart, you might like to know about
this area.  We live on plains with a mountain chain down the middle, inland
from the sea around a twenty minute drive on the banks of the Manawatu river
in a small city of 75000.  Our whole area is currently devastated, farms
ruined, crops washed away, livestock gone, roads and rails damaged or
ruined, people homeless, trees uprooted.  With good kiwi hard work and
ingenuity, we should get all this fixed in no time and be ready for you all
to come over and see for yourselves all the settings of Middle Earth.

Charlotte with the cosy and safe Mellow and Moomin