Your guide to the wonderful world of miniature pigs!

Along with all the pain suffered by people the world over due to the current economic crisis, it’s our pets (and pet miniature pigs) who are suffering more than most of us can imagine. Abandonment and shelter drop-offs are reaching record highs while adoptions are suffering record lows. Now, more than ever, it is time for us to be responsible pet lovers and do the right things by remembering that a pet pig does not have a voice. We must be their advocates.You can do the most for these (and other) lovable animals by educating your friends and family. Hopefully the information will stick and they’ll pass it on should they ever hear of a friend considering the purchase of a miniature pig based solely on the “cute” factor.

To start with, a pet should never be purchased if adoption is a viable option. In the case of mini pigs, the relatively small number of breeders make purchasing vs. rescuing less of a concern than with dogs or cats. That’s not to say that it excuses you from doing some research. Many miniature pig owners find themselves in way over their heads and wind up abandoning their pigs when they grow older (and larger) than the owners expected. A search for a pot belly pig rescue should be your first step before you even consider buying from a breeder.

The “surprise by size” motive for abandonment is still among the more common reason for owners giving up their miniature pigs. This is a particular problem as some breeders push “micro” or “teacup” breeds and don’t educate buyers to make them aware that the animal WILL grow to normal proportions. Alternatively, the breeder may be responsible and try to educate the buyer but the buyer simply doesn’t listen or consider the implications of an eventual 80-120 pounds of pig packed into the comparative body size of a medium dog.

Worse than either of those are those breeders who under-nourish miniature pigs to keep them unreasonably small. Consumers are left with either a sickly animal (which may be abandoned due to associated medical expenses) or a mini pig who suddenly balloons in weight once it is provided adequate feed in the new owner’s home (taking them off guard and unprepared to contend with the animals true and natural size)

To help stave off the irresponsible purchase of pigs marketed as “micro” or “teacup,” let your family and friends know that there really is no such animal. One common example of irresponsibility in this area is the prolific spread of the picture at the beginning of this post showing a “teacup” pig. This began circulating in March of 2008 after a creative breeder took pictures of his “micro” pig by a teacup. An unfortunate trend was born.

What we’re left with is a bunch of uneducated consumers wow’d by the cute factor (which this undeniably is) without the education to realize that these little piglettes will eventually become 80-120 pounds of pure, compact miniature pigs when they grow up. Most animals are adorably small shortly after birth. But while most of us understand that a cute Great Dane puppy is going to grow to monstrous proportions, fad-buyers just can’t conceive of how much animal the mini pig in that picture is going to become.