This young sow named Rosalie is lucky to be alive. According to the Montreal SPCA, the piglet was under a month old and half its normal size when it was brought in by a driver who found it on a dangerous road.
No one had reported a missing pet, but SPCA workers noticed that the piglet’s tail and its two fangs had been cut off.
The SPCA indicated that this is current practice in the pig industry, and is done without anesthesia or pain control to prevent animals from injuring themselves during transport.
Based on these clues and current practices, the SPCA staff on Mountain Sights concluded that Rosalie had probably fallen off a transport truck full of other piglets because of its tiny size. It was lucky to be alive, and all the more so as it likely escaped a life of misery.
According to the SPCA, the sow has been sterilized and taken to Ruby Ranch, an animal sanctuary, and will develop adult teeth growing up. Like all pigs, Rosalie is a playful animal and will enjoy a happy and healthy life.
But millions of pregnant sows are suffering from unimaginable physical and psychological distress, confined their entire lives to metal gestation crates where they cannot even turn around or engage in normal animal behavior.
The SPCA invites consumers to take a stand and make a difference. For more information, visit SPCA.com or the Humane Society International at hsi.org.
