Animals 33 - 36 (Page 9)

Bessie and P.C. came as a pair and what a pair they are: Bessie as big as a market hog and P.C. tiny, even for a pot belly pig. You have to watch out for P.C. though; don't let her small size fool you. She has bitten both Ercell and Cathy on the back of the leg when they weren't paying attention. She also hates to have anyone in her pen and will run you right out. Because she is so small and cute, everyone always wants to adopt her. We tell them she's just fine at Belly Draggers.

She was in arthritic pain and had no quality of life left. We were very sad to see her go, but think she is in a better place now.

Patches was always the King of Cathy's herd until one day, Arnold decided he was tired of it and fought him for the title. That resulted in Patches having ripped ears and he slunk away, defeated. Now Patches has mellowed out, becoming much friendlier with humans and pigs, so it turned out to be a good thing.

Preferring really just to be left alone, Percy is a funny pig. He doesn’t want any pig or human friends. He loves to eat and work at his bed. He'll work all day at making his blankets just right. He's having more trouble getting around and we suspect it is because he doesn't move around much.

Percy was not doing well and had stopped coming out of his shed to poop and pee, so we decided it was time to let him go also. He was faithfully sponsored by Sterling and Carole Warner for years. Sterling teaches English, Literature, and Creative Writing at Evergreen Valley College and he wrote the following poem for Percy awhile ago and we wanted to share it with you:

Poem for Percy:

Percy hides inside his shed

Only steps outside when fed

His heath's no big matter

He just keeps getting fatter

Shuffling blankets over head.

Sterling

When Pumba's owners decided to landscape their backyard, Pumba ended up in rescue. Her life-long companion, the family dog, stayed with the family. Eva agreed to take Pumba only if the owners would pay for her to be spayed. They did that reluctantly and Pumba came to Belly Draggers. She has been Ercell's helper ever since. She helps him work on cars, build sheds and fix things. She's applied what she’s learned by figuring out how to open the latch on her own gate in the morning.