[Gpdd] ANNOUNCE A new Piggyfriend. Part One.

[Penny Charlesworth]

I went to C & T yesterday to see the little boars that needed a home. The rescue lady had already found a home for one of them so had only taken two of them on Monday. One of them has a slight head tilt and she was unsure whether anyone would want him as the original owner had only wanted him to go to someone experienced with this. C had thought that this would not matter to me as I have had three such piggies in the past and called me first to make sure. Of course it didn't matter! Some of you might remember my Nova, who was LAPS girl Daisy's best friend. She had quite a severe head tilt but was such a jolly piggy and I have had two more in the past, Goldie and Topaz, neither of whom ever let a small disability get in the way of a good meal.

So when I got there on Wednesday, the rescue lady had taken the other piggy home with her and left this one. I had taken two carriers ewith me, just in case. C & T were busy with a little patient so I went upstairs to the pig room to meet him. First of all I saw the six Shelties that I posted about the other day. They had been moved to a larger cage and they all watched me as I went in as there was the possibility of food. I had no idea what he would look like but there in another cage was a ball of white fluff. I reached in and stroked him and he looked up at me. What a little sweetheart! I lifted him out and he didn't even try to run away. His head tilt is only slight but was enough for me to miss the black patch around the eye that looks slightly downward as he was facing away from the front.

He is a little Peruvian with gorgeous pink eyes but his owner had given all three of them a haircut so his hair is not very long. C said that she had forgotten to tell me that he was a long haired piggy but she knew that I did not mind what kind of piggy needed a home. They are all wonderful.

He sat happily on my lap, muching parsley, whilst I had a coffee and C told me his story as far as she knew. The original owner had a prize winning white Peruvian boar and at great expense had taken him across the country to meet a sow with a view to breeding some more white prizewinners. The result of that pairing were three little boars, one of which had a head tilt and a small black patch, the other two having much more black in their coats. You don't always get what you pay for.

So they needed new homes. She had asked a vet what he recommended and he said that they should be neutered ( I have no idea why other than he would get a fee for the ops ). They were born on 28th. October last year so were only a couple of months old when the deed was done. Far too young.

"Does he have a name," I asked C. "Yes," she said," but you won't like it." He had been named Little Willy. Oh dear!

He came home with me and is settled in a quarantine cage for the time being. He seems perfectly healthy but I am always careful. This morning when I came down he saw me and ran over to the side of his cage oinking loudly and treated me to a series of popcorns. He had eaten up all of the veggies that l left overnight except for a piece of broccoli and eagerly took a carrot chunk. He has obviously been loved and well handled unlike the usual stream of traumatised piggies that find their way to my door.

Down the years, I have exhausted all the names suitable for white piggies that I could think of. We have had a Snowflake, Snowdrop, Bianca, Paloma, Pola, Sweet pea, Polo........so I decided to give him a proper name. Please welcome Otto Piggyfriend. After I had written out his name card, I realised that his name looks the same at both ends - just as he will when his hair grows.

This is getting too long as I have filled up my page so there will be Part Two in a moment.

Penny.