Jolene was purchased by some folks years ago to breed babies to eat (called a breeder sow), but her people couldn’t do it. They sent her to a sanctuary instead. She had lived here since 2018, and she loved her life.
When we arrived in 2021, Jolene was already an older girl, but was still pretty spunky. She put her on arthritis med sammies for some stiffness, but she would also bite your butt if you didn’t move fast enough for her liking. She was sassy and bright and personable. And smart. She had a huge crowd of girlfriends who respected her as an elder, and she never missed a potential snack from the Meep.
When Jolene didn’t come to breakfast one morning, we were all concerned. Animals who have decreased appetite are immediately assessed for a potential problem, especially if it’s a pig resident. We transported Jolene to the University of Tennessee where they identified a large mass on ultrasound. It was significant enough to warrant emergency exploratory surgery, and what they found inside was the classic problem we see when female pigs are left unspayed. She had a tumor that grew like a mushroom on a stalk, which had wrapped around her intestines, causing catastrophic and irreversible damage. There were no treatment options, and we euthanized her while still in the operating room.
As we worked methodically and diligently to spay the Tennessee females who we accepted into our care, one of the most difficult decisions was who to send next. Large female pigs experience higher risk under anesthesia for such an invasive surgery, and our team worked very closely with the vet staff to decrease risks wherever we could. That meant we had some older females who were poor candidates for spay. Jolene was one of them. She already had poor mobility when we met her, and we had too many younger pigs that needed precious spots on the surgery schedule first. Though her case had a sad ending, it’s further proof of the vital importance of spaying pigs, including removal of the entire uterus, as early as possible.
Jolene was a lovely old matriarch in her herd. She lived in the Cabin Houses Neighborhood beside Scarlett, SallyMae, Easter, Blynken, Knox, and a host of other beautiful females who were all young enough to get their spays done successfully as part of our enormous initiative to have every Tennessee female on this property spayed. Jolene is survived by a beautiful variety of healthy females who have gone on in her honor to live their best Sanctuary Babe lives.
