Sanctuary’s Peace Shattered

January 17, 2011

Yesterday the unthinkable happened. Hunters were trespassing on our boundary, and their pig dogs raced onto our property and viciously attacked our animals. They ganged up on our kunekune pig, Jose. He has terrible wounds. It’s a miracle that he’s alive at all. I was actually with the goats and pigs when they were attacked. It was horrific and terrifying to see those dogs in a blood frenzy, tearing apart my beloved boy. The emergency vet came and tended to Jose, but he was in such shock that they couldn’t anesthetize him to stitch his wounds. They were afraid the anesthesia would kill him. The vet came again today and gave him enough nembutal and morphine to knock out a similar sized human three times….but Jose remained standing! They didn’t dare give him any more. Since they can’t close the wounds, I’m going to have to treat them several times a day and pray that nature heals them without stitching. The hero of the day was Rosie, our other kunekune. She lept into the fray to defend Jose, and chased off one of the dogs. We’re amazed at her bravery and loyalty to Jose, as she could have fled the scene to save herself (as the goats did!) The other animals are all extremely traumatised by what they saw, and refuse to go into that paddock now. I can’t blame them, as I feel the same way. This photo is of Jose in happier times, as I don’t think it’s appropriate to post photos of his shocking injuries. I hope that soon he’ll recover and be able to live a normal life again. And I think that pig hunting should be outlawed, in exactly the same way that dog fighting is illegal. They’re no different, and neither is sport.