A Meat and Dairy Article from All-Creatures.org

Menorah was Bought to be Eaten on Christmas

From The Gentle Barn
December 2023

Menorah is still young herself and will be able to grow up with her babies, nurse them, nurture them, and play with them for the rest of her life.

Menorah...

Four years ago, my family had a remarkable opportunity to drive from California to Washington to save a mommy pig and her babies. Menorah was raised to eat for Christmas dinner, but when she unexpectedly gave birth and the people raising her saw her as a mom, they could no longer see her as a meal. We were contacted and asked to bring the pigs home to the safety of The Gentle Barn. Beyond Meat donated a trailer, we hooked it up to our truck, packed some small bags, took our dogs, Sky and Bingo, and away we went.

The drive there took two days. We drove about 6 to 8 hours each day and then stopped for the night. Once we got our room, we walked and fed the dogs, ate dinner, and watched a bit of television before falling asleep, exhausted from the drive. The weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, and we enjoyed spending time together, singing songs, and sharing snacks. The closer we got, the more excited we all were to meet our new family of rescued piggies.

Meeting the pigs was wonderful... Miracle, Blitzen, Dreidel, Tinsel, Mistletoe, Gingerbread, Noelle, Holly. The piglets were way smaller than depicted in pictures, and the mom was sweet, kind, and grateful. I explained to the pigs who we were, what we wanted to do, and showed them The Gentle Barn through mental images. Then, with their permission, we loaded them into our trailer, piled high with soft straw bedding, warm and cozy.

As if regrouping, Menorah laid down and called her piglets to nurse. The piglets piled on top of each other, trying to get their very own spot, and their suckling was loud and endearing. We closed the trailer door, jumped up into the cab of our truck, and buckled ourselves in for the 24-hour drive home.

Menorah is still young herself and will be able to grow up with her babies, nurse them, nurture them, and play with them for the rest of her life.

Menorah and her babies are Mangalitsa pigs, a Hungarian breed that is much smaller than the American genetically engineered pigs we‘re used to rescuing. We’re hopeful that will mean they’ll live a nice long time!

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