Birth date: 17 February 2017       Arrival: 16 February 2018

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Willow, the pig, arrived at Little Oak Sanctuary on a hot, steamy day in mid-February of 2018.  Impacted by illness, his family had made the difficult decision to rehome their piggy companion, but finding a loving forever home for an 80kg "miniature" pig, is a tough task.  After a prolonged effort to try and find him a new home, we were contacted and travelled to collect him shortly after.
 
Willow is an amiable, talkative little pig who loves belly rubs from anyone willing to hand one out. Despite the best intentions, his last lodgings weren't ideal, and he was a bit of a sad, lonely little guy. Pigs are very social beings and need to be with other animals, ideally pigs so they can play, and have relationships with others. Compounding this, Willow had a nose ring fitted to his little snout as just a young piglet, but it was causing him so much discomfort he not only wouldn't dig with his snout, but he would avoid touching his nose on anything at all. 
 
A week after arriving, Willow was sedated, and we removed his nose ring. It was quite well embedded in his little snout and must have caused him immense pain. The next day Willow was back to his chirpy self, and slowly but surely began to explore his world with his ring-free snout. The trauma he experienced by having the ring causing him pain whenever he tried to use his nose took a while for him to overcome, but today Willow is a confident, happy boy who explores the world as nature intended.
 
Nowadays, Willow is best friends with Prince, and the pair spend their days wallowing, digging and exploring with their other friends, Portia and Charlotte.

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We often take the things we can do for granted.  Often, until something is taken away from us in some capacity, we don't fully appreciate it.  Willow teaches us to stop and be grateful for all that we have, our health, if we have it, our friends, our families.

 

You can sponsor Willow and help support him and his piggy friends below.