[Gpdd] ANNOUNCEMENT. Two new Piggyfriends.

[Penny Charlesworth]

I am delighted to announce that two new boys have joined the Piggyfriends family.

I had heard that my local animal shelter was shortly to have some babes for rehoming, due to a family who had acquired four "sows" from a pet shop and, you've guessed it, one of them wasn't a sow and the other three are pregnant. As they always have trouble rehoming boars, I offered a home to two future boar babes when the time comes for them to be available.

Leigh, the head of small animals, said that she had two boars awaiting a special home and might I be interested in them instead??? Normally she gives me a call if she has unrehomeable piggies, in the hope that I may be able to take one but when I saw her to collect my last four mice, I mentioned that I was full up with boars but could make room for a sow, who could go into one of my groups. Sadly, there is a limit to the number of pens that will fit into my house. Since then, I have lost two of my boys, Guinness and Truffle.

She had two boars that had not gone to the Cavy House for adoption as one of them had been ill, she had fallen in love with them and they had stayed in her office until she could find someone that she knew who could give them both a home.

One is a totally black Abby and is 3-4 years old. He has suffered with intermittent diarrhoea so she needed him to go to a home where this could be managed. When a baby boar came into the shelter, he was put with the Abby for company and they stayed together. The baby is now 7 months old and has a beautiful sleek, short chocolate coat with two white feet.

As soon as I went into Leigh's office, the Abby rushed out to greet me and stood quietly for me to pet him. I suspect that he knew that I had a carrot in my pocket. His chocolate friend was a little shy but I was able to pick him up, without a struggle, and he snuggled down into my arms. I broke the carrot in half and watched them whilst they devoured it all.

Leigh copied all the vet's notes and tests for me for future use and said that if I had any problems with the Abby, I could take him in and she would take him to the vet free of charge, which I thought was a nice gesture as I have often taken on piggies with lifelong illnesses requiring expensive trips to the vet.

I had already filled in the paperwork before I even saw the piggies so it just remained for me to bring them home. They cleared up a big pile of grass as soon as they got here. I have put them into a pen next door to my huge LAPS boys, Barley and Rye and the new boys look so tiny in comparison to them
.
They have settled in well but were concerned by the late night snack of a piece of melon last night. By the morning, it had gone so somepig cleared it up. This morning, Midnight was shouting for carrot along with the rest of the herd. Buttons watched from the hidey box until he thought that it was safe, then came out and stood by the wire for his carrot but is not yet sure whether to make a noise. They both stand quietly to be stroked, no doubt a legacy of Leigh's love and attention at the shelter.

I have given a great deal of thought as to names for these two. I came down to Inca, with reference to his Peruvian ancestry or Midnight, the title of a song by my favourite band, for the black piggy but I know someone with a black Labrador called Inca so decided on Midnight. He is the first ever completely black Piggyfriend. Being a lifelong chocoholic, many suitably coloured Piggyfriends have had choccy names and I have picked Buttons for this boy. Cadbury's Chocolate Buttons are a favourite treat ( of mine not the piggies!) He looks very much like Suzy's Cocoa in the Calendar pigtures, except for Button's ruby eyes.

So, please welcome Midnight and Buttons into the GPDD family and thank you for reading their story.

Penny and the now 25 Piggyfriends.

P.S. Sorry, Birdie. Just when you send me a copy of the Slave and Piggy list I mess it up by adding two more. I will try to keep my own list up to date this time!