Penelope is a gorgeous Devon pig and was one of the 159 pigs surrendered to OMI when we moved to Tennessee and took over the herd in 2021. She lives in the Solsbury Hill neighborhood, which is where our wind chime memorial garden is located. It’s a lovely place tucked away from most of the activity on the property, and you can often find pigs lounging on the hillside with the sound of the wind chimes in the breeze. Penelope’s ears are very forward facing, as is characteristic of her breed. When we need to load her into the trailer for anything, we have to lift her ears out of her eyes so she can see where she is walking. It’s a testimony to how many OTHER senses she uses to navigate her normal environment here at the sanctuary. Pigs who are vision impaired rely on cues and communication from their herd mates for essential daily functions like finding the best nap spots and knowing where to find the best snacks. Penelope is good friends with Dandelion, Clover, Violet, Periwinkle, Tucker and Pheebee.
Penelope’s rescue is like MANY of the rescue stories we see here. The common theme is that pigs rarely get to keep their initial homes because the commitment is daunting. It’s tempting to take in tiny pigs because they feel manageable, but they grow very large and are often extremely difficult patients when it comes to medical care. Penelope was one of the many females we had spayed on arrival to Tennessee, and her long term health is greatly improved because of it. Spaying females is an essential part of pig healthcare because of the very well-documented tendency for them to have painful and dangerous uterine abnormalities when left unaltered.
