Land of the Flies

Flies are in full effect this year. As a step to keep the pigs comfy and to keep the flies from annoying them so much we apply SWAT to the pigs faces. This is a fly repellent ointment for wounds and sores. It comes in a clear formula and a pink formula. We've already had to start using it on a lot of the pigs. This summer will be a doozy!

Here is Frances sporting the pink SWAT. I think she wears it well.

Animal Hoarding

In 2001 more than 300 animals were rescued from a mobile home in South Tucson. Some of the animals that were in the home were already dead by the time the rescue occurred. According to the Animal Cruelty Task Force "An awful lot of animals were living on top of dead animals."

Animals that were found include rabbits, dogs, hedgehogs, chickens, pigs, pigmy goats, peacocks, and more! Among those saved were Dolly and Mama.

These two lovely girls reside in part of our Northwest field. Dolly enjoys lounging in her dogloo while Mama prefers to get some sun.




We also have Sean, Glen, Blanch and a few others from this rescue that are in our Northwest field. They're very happy and have been hanging out in wallows lately as it has been heating up here.

Miss Saigon

Miss Saigon is a resident of our Main field. She gets along well with her field mates and enjoys resting under low shelters such as the one in the picture. She's quite friendly and is such a pretty girl! The story of how Miss Saigon became an Ironwood resident is a rough one.

Ironwood received a call from the humane society many years ago stating that they had rescued a potbellied pig. The humane society had received a call from some good citizens who saw a pig being chased and beaten with a hammer. Miss Saigon's owners were trying to kill her for food.

She had blood coming out of her ears and mouth but luckily did not have any brain damage. She of course was traumatized though and weary of humans.

Through much love and time Miss Saigon warmed up to the staff at Ironwood. She now enjoys attention and her time roaming the field. A big thank you for those that reported this crime. Please report any animal abuse to your local authorities.

Foreclosures

Many people have faced and continue to face housing foreclosures. Often times this means having to find a temporary or permanent home for pets. It can be especially hard to find homes for larger pets, such as pigs.

Mary was contacted by a woman in Albuquerque who had to leave her house and now needed to find placement for her two pigs. She had until the 30th of March to do so. Through many emails and phone calls Mary was able to arrange for Tim, one of my coworkers, to go pick up the pigs.


The two pigs are Zoey and Squeaky, both girls. They are both very sweet. Squeaky loves to get attention while Zoey is still warming up. Yesterday I learned that Squeaky likes to give kisses, yay!

These girls are still living in our pen area while they get acclimated and we learn more about them. Hopefully we will be able to work them into one of our fields.

Betsy

Last month Mary received word that there was a pig left at a house in Phoenix. The stories are a bit off so we aren't sure what really happened, but we do know that Betsy was left alone.

She had a house all to herself and was able to go outside as she pleased. Tim, one of my coworkers, was able to go pick her up. The police did need to be involved as no one was living at the house and we were taking an animal.

Betsy is now a resident of Ironwood. She doesn't seem totally comfortable yet but does like to get attention and special treats. We will continue to work with Betsy to make sure she is as comfortable as possible.

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Samantha turned 18 today!! She received special treats including strawberries. Samantha is a very pretty girl and she knows it!

Handle With Care

I've mentioned a few times now how many sick pigs we have had lately. They have been getting sick/hurt for numerous reasons varying from old age to having a hard time recovering from surgery. I want people to know all that goes into caring for a sick pig. It's much like caring for any other sick animal, but often they can be very wild, heavy, hard to handle, etc. You have to be careful to make sure you are helping and not causing more harm.

Meet Sylvia.It was noticed a couple of weeks ago that there were tears between both of her back hooves. She was walking on her tips and we could see the redness. Sylvia needed to be flipped in order for us to examine and care for her hooves. Mary was able to clean both spots and then wrapped up Sylvia's feet. This will keep her from getting an infection and help them heal. As days would go by the wraps would come off and we would rewrap them as needed. Sylvia has been healing well and should be able to be without wraps soon.

Other than wrapping pigs' feet we also do things such as taking temperatures, giving injections(subcutaneously and intramuscular), syringing fluid/medication into mouths, doctoring wounds from fights, giving fluids subcutaneously, and so much more! We never know what we will find day to day.

We spend a lot of time making sure that the pigs here are healthy and comfortable. If the pig is very wild then we have to be clever about how we help them. It can take a lot of manpower in order to help some of them, but we are always willing to do whatever it takes. This includes splitting up night checks for the very sick pigs and working more than 12 hours a day at times. We do all of this without complaining because we love all these pigs so much!