23rd September 2014

I arrived at Avalon with over 30 pigs yesterday. Most were boars that didn't receive a bid and had no reserve. I know so many people whinge about buying from auctions but you come with me one week and explain how we should leave them. One chap sat in his pen eating the grotty straw they were bedded down on. We got him into a cage and he just quietly sat at the food bowl, I bet he thought his dreams had come true, he was starving. Literally. About 8 of them in the same run of pens, same seller, are bone thin, with muscle wastage on their hind quarters and so bloody miserable. They get another chance, even though it costs to remove them from the market and it costs more money to get them up to weight. 5 pens had sow/boar combinations, although sold as 'unsexed'. Those sows will have to be watched for obvious reasons. One trio of boys included a very very tiny ginger and white boy. He was about 3 weeks old I'd say, he has gone straight in with a group of mums and babies and went into the group and nuzzled in immediately. Yes, removing these animals costs the rescue money. But it is worth it to give them a better quality of life.