Annabelle was one of the eight pigs who came to live at OMI in 2022. She was originally surrendered as a runt of the litter who wasn’t considered worth the effort to raise. Mangalitsas are a Hungarian breed of pig that are typically raised for their flesh. They’re gentle animals with poor eyesight, so they’re naturally a little shy and nervous of strangers. Their hair is long and wooly, and they typically have a full coat all year round!Â
Annabelle lived in the Northwest Neighborhood with her many friends, including another Mangalitsa, Sid. She loved her Sanctuary Babe life, which was full of daily swamping and getting snacks from her caregivers.
For aging pigs, mobility almost always becomes the greatest challenge. We can often see it coming long before it arrives, and we worked tirelessly to help Annabelle hold onto every bit of comfort, joy, and dignity her body would allow. More than once, we thought we’d beaten the odds and bought her a little more time. We celebrated every small victory, but ultimately her body told a different story.
Annabelle was our friend. She was deeply loved and respected by everyone on our team. We spent extraordinary amounts of time helping her live her best life as a Sanctuary Babe, and her absence is felt in the quiet spaces of our daily routine where we were tending to her every need.