While most pigs eat slop, this hefty hog enjoyed a diet of porridge, chocolate and Chinese takeout.
The 5-foot-long, 420-pound Twiglet was no piglet, but she was “family” to her owner, Elaine Edwards from Rotherham in the UK, who died in August. Last week, the extraordinary swine was rescued from Edwards’ home after the woman’s family realized they would not be able to move Twiglet on their own.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) found the portly porker on the first floor of Edwards’ home. There, she slept on her own mattress in her owner’s bedroom and was even potty-trained to use a litter box. Inspectors from the RSPCA, as well as firefighters and local veterinarians, came to oversee the rescue effort.
The Vietnamese pot-bellied pig had to be sedated for the move, which involved six firemen working together to carry her out.
“This was a first for me — a couple of hundred pound pig is not a common animal to be kept in a first floor flat, for very good reasons,” says Kristy Ludlam of the RSPCA. “We are really happy that we were able to bring everyone together to help Twiglet and her owner’s family and grateful to everyone involved, and so pleased that she’s doing well in her new home.”
Calli Edwards, Elaine’s granddaughter, who told SWNS about Twiglet’s junk food diet, said, “My nan had always wanted a pig ever since she was a little girl, so we bought one for her for £60 off Facebook.”
The 20-year-old said her grandmother “loved [Twiglet] to death,” adding that she “was a member of the family” — and pampered as such.
“Twiglet had her own single bed in my nan’s room with her own teddies — that was life for Twiglet,” Calli says. “She got everything she wanted.”
Calli also says that her grandmother would not allow “jokes about bacon sandwiches” around Twiglet, nor was she concerned about her size: “If you had nothing nice to say about Twiglet, you had to say nothing at all.”
Twiglet was taken to the Peppers Field Equine & Poultry Rehabilitation Centre where she’s lost about 21 pounds already by sticking to fresh produce, such as her favorite snack, grapes.
“When she first came, she was really quiet. I think she was quite depressed after her owner died,” says Chloe Watson, who works with the rehab center. “She was quiet and reserved, but she has now come out of her shell.”
Watson says that they hope to find a new, more appropriate home for Twiglet soon.
“She definitely lived a life of luxury in the flat,” says Watson, “but it wasn’t really the right environment for her.”
