In honour of World Vegan Day, the Black Sheep is releasing a short film featuring the sanctuary pigs. The stars include Horace and Doris, who turned up at the sanctuary as tiny mischievous piglets, almost exactly six years ago. Doris had escaped life as a breeding sow, chewing in boredom and fear on the bars of a farrowing crate, her skin ulcerated with pressure sores. Horace would have been separated from his mother and fattened with a hundred other piglets, his world defined by dank concrete walls. At five months of age he would leave the pen for the first and last time, screaming with fear, to be trucked to slaughter. Pig voices sound almost human.
Horace and Doris are lucky indeed. Here they are, relishing life with the other sanctuary pigs, enjoying mud baths in summer, tummy rubs, and chasing games.
Horace and Doris are lucky indeed. Here they are, relishing life with the other sanctuary pigs, enjoying mud baths in summer, tummy rubs, and chasing games.
Filmmaker Kate Logan describes what inspired her to make this video:
“As I haven’t had a lot of first hand experience with pigs in my life, it’s always been lovely having the opportunity to go up to the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary and spend some time with the assortment of pig characters who live there.
There’s Horace and Doris, the Large Whites, who were the first pig residents at the sanctuary. Trotter, the Kunekune, with his adorable face and tongue that hangs out. Brian, the cheeky little Captain Cooker, who was oh so cute as a wee piglet and is now a charming adult pig. And all of the other lovely pigs with their unique personalities that make you smile and laugh.
Usually my interactions with the pigs have just involved hurling food over the fence to them, and watching them run around, snuffling and scoffing the treats that land nearby. Or taking photographs of people rubbing and snuggling them, with me, at a distance… on solid ground. This was not quite the case during the making of this documentary.
Getting into a pen with a bunch of enormous white pigs who really enjoy rubbing up against you and using you as a scratching post certainly had its moments. I constantly had to watch my back whilst conducting the interview with Caan in case I was suddenly bowled over in an affectionate manner. At one point I ended up stuck in the pig’s mud pit, unable to move my feet, holding the camera up and trying not to fall over whilst Doris ambled over curiously to see what was going on. Luckily Caan and Kate were able to help me out before the camera took a dive into the mud!!
I have been involved with the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary since its beginnings in 2009, and my role within the sanctuary group has predominantly been as the media person / designer. This video about the pigs is a short excerpt from what will eventually be a longer documentary about the sanctuary.
I think it’s so important that places like the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary exist so that animals in need can live out their lives free from abuse and exploitation. It takes a lot of hard work and monetary input to care for all of these animals, so I hope that through promoting the great work that the sanctuary is doing, funds can be raised to keep the animal residents happy and healthy for the rest of their natural lives.”
The Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary is a safe and sustainable space that rehabilitates and re-homes abused, injured, and neglected animals. Located at Ōtaki Forks, an hour’s drive north of Wellington, New Zealand, the sanctuary is home to around 200 animals as well as several caretakers.
Over 600,000 pigs are killed in New Zealand every year, after short, unhappy lives, in a kind of agricultural determinism. We can change this, however, by boycotting the meat industry. Celebrate World Vegan Day by keeping pork off your fork. Let’s shut down the pork industry, and stop the suffering.
We would love it if you could promote this video through your networks on behalf of Horace and Doris, to remember the pigs who were rescued and the ones who were not.
Read more about the Sanctuary pigs here http://www.theblacksheep.org.nz/pigs.html
“As I haven’t had a lot of first hand experience with pigs in my life, it’s always been lovely having the opportunity to go up to the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary and spend some time with the assortment of pig characters who live there.
There’s Horace and Doris, the Large Whites, who were the first pig residents at the sanctuary. Trotter, the Kunekune, with his adorable face and tongue that hangs out. Brian, the cheeky little Captain Cooker, who was oh so cute as a wee piglet and is now a charming adult pig. And all of the other lovely pigs with their unique personalities that make you smile and laugh.
Usually my interactions with the pigs have just involved hurling food over the fence to them, and watching them run around, snuffling and scoffing the treats that land nearby. Or taking photographs of people rubbing and snuggling them, with me, at a distance… on solid ground. This was not quite the case during the making of this documentary.
Getting into a pen with a bunch of enormous white pigs who really enjoy rubbing up against you and using you as a scratching post certainly had its moments. I constantly had to watch my back whilst conducting the interview with Caan in case I was suddenly bowled over in an affectionate manner. At one point I ended up stuck in the pig’s mud pit, unable to move my feet, holding the camera up and trying not to fall over whilst Doris ambled over curiously to see what was going on. Luckily Caan and Kate were able to help me out before the camera took a dive into the mud!!
I have been involved with the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary since its beginnings in 2009, and my role within the sanctuary group has predominantly been as the media person / designer. This video about the pigs is a short excerpt from what will eventually be a longer documentary about the sanctuary.
I think it’s so important that places like the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary exist so that animals in need can live out their lives free from abuse and exploitation. It takes a lot of hard work and monetary input to care for all of these animals, so I hope that through promoting the great work that the sanctuary is doing, funds can be raised to keep the animal residents happy and healthy for the rest of their natural lives.”
The Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary is a safe and sustainable space that rehabilitates and re-homes abused, injured, and neglected animals. Located at Ōtaki Forks, an hour’s drive north of Wellington, New Zealand, the sanctuary is home to around 200 animals as well as several caretakers.
Over 600,000 pigs are killed in New Zealand every year, after short, unhappy lives, in a kind of agricultural determinism. We can change this, however, by boycotting the meat industry. Celebrate World Vegan Day by keeping pork off your fork. Let’s shut down the pork industry, and stop the suffering.
We would love it if you could promote this video through your networks on behalf of Horace and Doris, to remember the pigs who were rescued and the ones who were not.
Read more about the Sanctuary pigs here http://www.theblacksheep.org.nz/pigs.html