IRONWOOD i v e r s a r y 1 2 t h A n n ISSUE MAY NO 52 2013 · Just ask Arnold and Ozzy. ......

IRONWOODIISSSSUUEENNOO 5522

MMAAYY22001133

PPoorrggyy

IRONWOOD

PIG SANCTUARYPIG SANCTUARY

12th Anniversary

Ironwood Pig SanctuaryPost Office Box 35490

Tucson, AZ 85740

May 2013

Dear Supporter,We are celebrating our twelfth Anniversary and we have a lot to celebrate. Ironwood hasgrown from zero to nearly 600 pigs over these twelve years and many hundreds more havecome to us and lived out their lives in peace and comfort. We are proud of our sanctuary, aplace of refuge where pigs pass through our gates and now know that they are safe. Theywon’t live in a 6 x 8 foot pen or go without shade, water, shelter, food, or medical care. Theywill never be attacked by a dog again. They will have space to run, live and make friendswith their own kind, be fed and given clean water every day and receive the best medicalcare. They will root in the dirt and roll in the mud wallows. And in the end they will begiven a peaceful passing when their time with us is over.In these twelve years we have never faltered, even though our economy has been goingthrough the worst economic times since the Great Depression. This is because You havestuck by us and provided for our pigs. Your generosity, your empathy, your compassion havegiven us permission to carry on and continue our mission. Thank you so much for makingthe Ironwood Pig Sanctuary possible.Thirteen years ago we went to a conference here in Tucson and we were advised by twofellows who started the first pig sanctuary in the country not to start our own. Well, we didnot take their advice. What do I think now? Sometimes I do think why didn’t we listen, butif we had, what would have become of Joey, Barnabus and Boss Hog and the more than 1000others we have rescued. I guess the answer reallyis clear. We are so thankful we took this path.

Sincerely,

Mary SchanzPresident & Co-Founder

IRONWOOD PIG SANCTUARY Issue 52

Joey,Barnabus

& BossHog

juice, waiting for their turn.

We started bringing everyoneinto the barn where there areextra bowls to have their juice.One of the staffmembers, Deeanna,would start announcingthat it was time forhappy hour in the barnand everyone wouldgather and wait for theirjuice. Some pigs also

sleep in the barn so theydon’t have to go very far..Everyone gets their shareof diluted juice and somefruit. Ozzy gets prunejuice to help keep himregular. Princess is new tothe field but has quicklylearned that she wanted tobe a part of this. Somenights she’d rather staywrapped up in her blanketsbut if she’s in the mood

she isn’t shy about joining thegroup.

The pigs that sleep in the barn,like Mr. Pibb and Arnold, areusually covered with a lot of hay.That doesn’t keep them fromgetting up for juice though. EvenKaylee, who sometimes can’teven be seen, will emerge fromher nest for a little refreshment.

Happy hour in the barn is sure tobecome busier as summerapproaches. The Assisted Livingpigs are sure to know where to goto keep hydrated!

---Taryn

e’re not sure about youbut happy hour atIronwood starts

around 3:00pm. For the pigs thatis! Just ask Arnold and Ozzy.They know that happy hour in thebarn starts in the afternoon andare usually the first ones readyand waiting.

Happy hour in the barn is a newthing for our Assisted Living pigs.We started giving juice in theirfield to one of our older pigs thatneeded some extra attention. It

was obvious that his friendwanted in on it. It pretty muchsnowballed from there. All of the

other pigs in the field startedgathering around and wanting

www.ironwoodpigs.org [email protected]

Issue 52 IRONWOOD PIG SANCTUARY

Happy Hour in the BarnW

Deeanna Getting the DilutedJuice Ready

can more easily tend to hisincreasing needs. He now residesin the Hospice area of the AssistedLiving Field where Arnold lives.The Hospice is one side of thefield that was fenced off for thosepigs that are more crippled byarthritis and in need of a quietcalm place to finish out their lives.Everyone living there is in similarphysical condition, thereforeposing little threat to one another.Notice I said ‘little threat’ asopposed to ‘no threat’. Theseguys may be old and crippled, butthey still have their moments offeistiness wanting to be king of thehill!

Sweet Pea, now 18 years old,came to Ironwood during our first

While some of our earliest arrivalssuch as Claire and Popeye, are stillhealthy and happily living out inthe large Main Field, others havehad to be moved, mainly due toproblems with arthritis. Arnold(we have had many Arnolds, butthis one was our first to arriveback in August of 2001) ruled theroost in the Main Field for manyyears. Less than a year ago, hebecame extremely lame withsevere arthritis in a front leg. Hewas hobbling around barely ableto put any weight at all on that leg.Arnold, age 13, was first movedinto one of our holding pens to restup and allow us to get hismedication regulated. Once hewas stable and walking better, hewent into our Assisted LivingField, Phase 1 where he lives withseven other pigs including Abby, a15 year old that also arrived in the“old days.” This field was the firstextension we made in early 2003to accommodate pigs who couldnot handle living in the largerfields due to their physicallimitations.

Mr. Pibb came to Ironwood inAugust of 2001 and lived formany years out in the Main Field.When his arthritis became toomuch of a problem for him, he wasmoved into one of a row of largepens built inside his field whichMary called the Lifer pens. Helived there for almost two years.Just recently, at the age of 16, Mr.Pibb needed to be in a moreclosely supervised area where we

hen we openedIronwood 12 yearsago…..wait, hold that

thought. The first thing thatpopped into my head as I typedthose opening words was “Whenwe opened the floodgates…” Andthat is what it has seemed likethese past 12 years! Anunbelievable number of pigs havepassed through our gates, morethan we ever imagined.

The first couple of years we tookin around 200 pigs. Many of thosepigs have passed on, but most arestill with us. Their needs have

changed over the years as theyhave progressed into their mid toupper teens. Living in a large fieldwith 50-65 other pigs is no longersafe or physically possible forsome of the elderly. As the yearshave gone by, we have needed tobuild new places to accommodateour senior pigs, making smallerareas where their needs can be metwithout having to walk too far andsmall populations enable us toprovide individualized care.

Arnold

Accomodations For The Aging IRONWOOD PIG SANCTUARY Issue 52


W

Hospice Area

Abby & Mrs. Piggy

Our pigs are always underobservation, particularly duringfeeding time when they are all outand walking around. When wenotice pigs becoming lame witharthritis, we get them started onjoint support supplements andanti-inflammatory medication.Over time, whether it be months oryears, as their physical conditionworsens, we move them to areaswhere they will be safer and morecomfortable. During theirlifetime, it might mean movingmore than once as their needschange. Throughout our twelve

years of providing care for potbellied pigs, we have developeddifferent living areas toaccommodate our elderly pigs.We now have six Assisted LivingFields, two hospice areas, theyards behind both the VisitorCenter and Ben and Mary’s house,Special Needs East, Camelot andthe Lifer pens all to provideappropriate homes for our seniorcitizens. The sanctuary looks verydifferent now than it did in thebeginning, but the same love andcare follows each pig throughoutthe various stages of their liveswith us.

….Donna

summer twelve years ago. Shehas done amazingly well over theyears and only had to be movedout of the field a few months ago.She lives in the yard behind theVisitor Center along with a blindpig named Petunia and an old galnamed Squeaky. This yard hasserved as a safe haven for severalelderly pigs over the years. SweetPea, with her bowed arthritic legs,can be monitored closely here.

Megan has been with us for 111⁄2years and spent the majority ofthat time in the Main Field. Bothof her front legs have severearthritis. When walking becametoo difficult for her, Megan wasmoved to one of the Lifer pens inher field right next to Mr. Pibb,mentioned previously. She wasvery unhappy there and would notgo inside her shelter. This was



during this past winter in themiddle of a cold spell. We had tokeep checking on her trying tokeep her covered up with blankets.Megan would not settle down, sowe then moved her to one of ourtwo hospice areas which are closerto our houses where we couldmore easily keep an eye on her.Megan is doing well there and isnow using a shelter although ittook some coaxing and patience.It sounds strange for a pigsanctuary, but her area is called theCat Shelter because it wasoriginally built to house a group offeral cats who ended up staying ata cat rescue in exchange for ustaking their 3 pigs. The CatShelter has developed into a greathome for many of our pigs thatneeded to be transferred to a“nursing home” atmosphere forthe last stage of their lives.

Many of you know that Ben, Maryand I all got started with potbellied pigs by volunteering atPigs*A*Lot, a sanctuary that hassince closed down. We boughtthat property in the foreclosuresale 10 years ago, making it ourAnnex. The pigs that live thereare all in their teens and, like thepigs here at our main facility, theirneeds are also changing andbecoming more demanding. Astheir care becomes more timeconsuming than Shannon, thecaretaker there, can deal with, wemove them over here. We built asmall field called Special NeedsEast for the Annex pigs. The latestto arrive is Arabella, who settled inquite nicely after a long illness.She joined eleven other pigs whoall originated from the Annex.

Backyard

Megan

Sweet Pea

or twelve yearsIronwood has been opento provide a home for

abandoned, abused, neglectedor unwanted pigs. But evenbefore Ironwood we werevolunteering at what is now ourAnnex, so I want to go downmemory lane and show somepictures of some of the pigswho grabbed our hearts andpulled us into this rescuebusiness beginning at the end of1998.

We first got involved with pigsafter having read an article in theTucson paper about a woman inthe Pictures Rocks area who had asanctuary with 200 pigs calledPigs*A*Lot and was in need ofhelp of all kinds. We volunteeredthere for 2 years and during thattime the pigs won our hearts, so inNovember of 2000 we bought theland for Ironwood and brokeground in April of 2001. By Juneof 2001 we took our first two pigsClaire and Popeye, both of whomcame from Pigs*A*Lot originally.

By January of 2002 Ironwood hadtaken in nearly 100 pigs from

Pigs*A*Lot andin May of 2003we purchasedthe property in aforeclosure saleand called it ourAnnex. Theremaining pigsstayed on theproperty.

The Annex is our Roots I guessyou could say. Since we boughtthe property, we have had

caretakers who live on theproperty and care for thepigs. Pamala was there forseveral years and nowShannon, her husband Jeff,and their two children havelived on site for nearly fouryears now. We are verygrateful to have them there tolook after and care for theremaining pigs.

There are now 45 pigsremaining on the property

from a high of about 115 when webought our Annex in the



FDown Memory Lane

Popeye

Annex Pigs Gathering For Breakfast

Paityn & Shannon at the Annex

Annex Feeding



foreclosure sale. Many havepassed away or have come toIronwood when their care hasbecome more intensive. Theoriginal pigs from the Annex whocame to us are still a big part ofIronwood. They have their ownfields, the East field and SpecialNeeds East, as well as beingscattered throughout the sanctuarylike Claire and Popeye who havealways lived in Main.

Even though we don’t see ourAnnex pigs; Chandler, Nipper,Millie, Piggy Sue, Twin and so

many others often, I love to renewthose friendships when possible.They are our history and whatgave us the motivation to startIronwood.

What was clear to us whenwe were volunteers wasthere was a great need foran Ironwood with moreland and a greater capacityto house and care for themany more pigs that neededa home. Over these twelveyears we have providedlifetime homes forhundreds of pigs from all

over Arizona. Many havecome as individuals likeWilbur, Sylvia or Lucky, or in

pairs or families like Huey andLouie and their brothers, orBaldwin and daughter Betsy and

the rest of their family. They haveall lived with us for many yearsand have made friends andbonded with one another. Sylviaand Oliver, for example, havebecome very close friends sincethey lost their other companions.

We have also taken in many otherlarge groups of pigs from otherregional sanctuaries that havefaced foreclosure and personaldifficulty. St Matilda’s 46 pigscame to us in 2004 and we justcompleted a rescue from ApacheJunction of 75 pigs over the pastfew years. It has been a long anddifficult rescue with many pigs in

need of medical care. In additionwe are sometimes faced withtaking large groups of pigs from

people who have either beencharged with animal cruelty andmust give up their animals orpeople who simply are lettingtheir animals breed out of control.All of these varied circumstanceshave resulted in our having nearly600 pigs today.

These past twelve years have beena roller coaster ride indeed. Weknew that once we made thedecision to build Ironwood ourfate was sealed. Writing thisarticle for our 12th Anniversary

has given me time to reflect on allthe pig friends we have madealong the way.

---Mary

Sylvia & OliverHuey & Louie

Baldwin & Wilbur

Four of the Annex PigsEnjoying a Quiet Breakfast

Lucky, Joann & Betsy

A few years ago I was left at a countyAnimal Shelter where I had sevenbabies. Once they were able to travel,all of us were brought to Ironwood.Everyone was so kind to my babiesand me!


AArraabbee ll llaaHHoossss

I have lived here for many years. Iearned my name early on by jumpingover any obstacle put in front of me;boards, gates, people. If I couldn’tjump over it, I’d try to knock it down.What fun!

I’m not exactly a baby any more, but sincethere are two Olivers in my field and Iwas just a youngster when I moved in, Istill have this moniker. I don’t mindthough. It’s better than beingknown as Old Oliver!

GGwweennddoollyynn JJuummppeerr

Donna accuses me of drinking too

much coffee. I can’t sit still and I

scurry everywhere. I’m always in a

hurry….there’s so much to see and do

around here!

BBaabbyy OOll iivveerrI was named after one of the characterson the old TV show, Bonanza. When Ifirst arrived here I was rather large justlike Hoss Cartwright. I’ve slimmeddown quite a bit now.

I grew up at Ironwood’s Anne

x but moved to

the main facility this winter d

ue to illness.

It was touch and go for me

for a while,

but I’m doing great now an

d am living

in one of the fields here.

aka the Good Witch of the North. Myyellow brick road led to Ironwood andcoincidentally I ended up living in theNorth Field! Here I’ve befriended severallittle munchkins (aka pot bellied pigs).


GGlleennddaaPPaattssyy

BBeett ttyy

I rode in a van all the way from New

Mexico to come live here. It was a long

tiring trip but totally worth it! My

favorite thing about my new home is all

the space I have to run, play and explore.

I’m not exactly a baby any more, but sincethere are two Olivers in my field and Iwas just a youngster when I moved in, Istill have this moniker. I don’t mindthough. It’s better than beingknown as Old Oliver!

Donna accuses me of drinking too

much coffee. I can’t sit still and I

scurry everywhere. I’m always in a

hurry….there’s so much to see and do

around here!

BBaabbyy OOll iivveerr

JOIN OUR FAMILY OF SPONSORSWe would love to have you join our family of

sponsors! We have so many pigs that still needa sponsor and there are new ones coming in

all the time. Your support of $30 monthly wouldprovide your pig’s care and their share of sanctuary

expenses. I will send you aletter with your pig’s historyalong with photos then giveyou an update with newphotos during the year.

Please become a proud “pigparent” today!

…..Donna

SSccrreeeecchh DDoonnnnaa



Goodbye Herculese had the pleasure ofgetting to know andlove an old guy named

Hercules for eight months. Youmay have read his story in ourJanuary 2013 newsletter. Sadly,he passed away on March 15th.

Hercules arrived with a myriad ofproblems but was very noble andcourageous throughout variousprocedures and surgeries.

He had the opportunity to liveout in one of our fields for ashort time before his healthdeclined in February.

Hercules was a sweet pig withthe most beautiful eyes you’veever seen. We will all miss himvery much and alwaysremember him.

---Donna

W

GIFT CARDSFry’sHome DepotLowesOffice MaxOffice DepotStaplesPetsmartTargetDiscoverMasterCard

Our Wish ListMISCELLANEOUS ITEMSPostage Stamps (Forever, 46, 33, 20 cents) Other

denominations can also be usedUsed Blankets always welcome*Cranberry Capsules (Equivalent to 25,000 mg of fruit)*Flaxseed Oil Capsules (1,000 mg)*Glucosamine, Chondroitin with MSM (Triple Strength)

*Good value can be had at Puritan’s Pride at 1-800-645-1030 or www.puritan.com. They offer free shipping for orders over $100.

Fig Newton CookiesAntacid comparable to Zantac, No TumsTriple Antibiotic Ointment

BIG STUFFVan, Cargo - Late Model

Full Size, rear A/CTruck - Late Model 3/4 Ton

Long Bed Pickup

The next best thing to visiting the sanctuary and seeing thepigs for yourself is watching them on video! We thought itwould be fun to share part of the feeding process. There aretwo new videos up on our web site at www.ironwoodpigs.orgunder Pig Profiles. In “Feeding the Main Field” you canwatch how we feed the pigs in one of our larger fields fromhanding out medications to setting up special diets in feedingpens to getting the majority of the pigs fed in the troughs. In“Punky” you will see Tim hand feeding Punky and find outwhy she needs this special attention. We hope you enjoy allthe action and watch for more videos in the future!Ir

onwood

Videos

Julian & Punky

e al-waysf e a -

ture many of ourolder pigs in oura n n i v e r s a r yissues. This is agroup of oldfriends who

have all been with us from our beginnings or before.Ebby was trapped with a “have a heart trap” in May2002 not far from the sanctuary. He was running wildin the neighborhood and the woman who trapped himsaid the neighbors were going to shoot him.

Flapjack and his brother Eddie were running loose inthe desert and someone called us. Bob, one of our longtime volunteers was able to capture them in carrierswith the help of the people who called us.

Taylor was another stray found on Taylor Lane byAnimal Control. They called us and we picked himup in May 2002. He has always been a very sweet boyand has lived quietly in our Main field all these yearsand only now has become a bit arthritic and in need ofsome meds.

Desiree was yet another stray who had been dumpedwith her mother in the desert across from the DesertMuseum in Tucson. Ben got the call in April 2001before we were open here at Ironwood while we werestill volunteers. We brought Desiree to our home inTucson after she was injured at Pigs*A*Lot and by thetime she had recovered Ironwood was open, so webrought her here.

We have always said that Claire is our first pig. Andyes, she was the first pig to arrive at Ironwood whenwe were open. However, Popeye came with her onthat day, so really Claire and Popeye were our firstpigs. Claire and Popeye were both adopted fromPigs*A*Lot by the same lady. She adopted Popeye afew years later when he was a youngster so when she

released Claire to us she also released

n the afternoonof March 12,2002 Porgy

arrived at Ironwood inthe back of a horse trailerwith a rope tied aroundhim. He was brought tous that way because hehad become aggressiveand had been chasingone of their horses andbiting the horse’s legs.

Well, to say Porgy was aggressive was anunderstatement. He was a boar of course and beingnew to this business we were not quite prepared tohave a pig who we could not go in the pen with andputting him out in the exercise yard was dangerous aswell. He would slam himself against the fence whenwe were near his pen and when we tried to put him inthe exercise yard he would slam himself against ourboard that we used to direct him. Had we lost ourboard when he slammed us we were not sure whatcould have happened to one of us.

Even having him neutered did not make a great deal ofdifference, but we did see some improvement. The bigchange in Porgy occurred once we put him in the fieldwith the other, often larger pigs. They were bigger andstronger than he and were determined to maintain theirposition in the herd. He quickly calmed down andover time became the very sweet but somewhat shyfellow he is today. He is now growing old and has theprivilege of eating in a feeding pen now so he doesn’thave to compete with all the newcomers in his field.Who would have thought sweet Porgy could have everbeen the pig I described above. We like this Porgymuch better.



IRONWOODIIIISSSSSSSSUUUUEEEENNNNOOOO 55552222

MMMMAAAAYYYY2222000011113333

PPPPoooorrrrggggyyyy

IRONWOOD

PIG SANCTUARYPIG SANCTUARY

12th Anniversary

Front And Back CoverWO

Popeye. This group and a few others either notpictured here or who have passed away remind me ofthe old folks who gather at the café each morning forcoffee. I wonder what they say to one another. All ofthis group except Popeye were strays. ---Mary

were lying around napping whichduring the day there are several thatutilize that corner. It could havebeen so much worse!

Then came the clean up. Not aneasy task when a saguaro of thatsize weighs about two tons. First ithad to be cut into manageablepieces with a chainsaw. Jeremythen strapped one or two pieces at atime to the back of the ATV anddragged them off the fence toscatter around the back portion ofthe field. Once the downed fencewas cleared, Ben and Julian beganthe repairs. The bent top railneeded to be replaced and a newsection of chain link fencing had toreplace the old damaged fencingand stretched into place. The pig

shelter had to have a new roof puton. All of this took up fiveafternoons of work time as well as a

trip to town to purchase materialsfor the repairs.

Another unexpected workloadoccurred in early February when thetemperatures dropped into the teensand twenties for several nightscausing many of our water lines outin the fields to crack and burst.First, quickie repairs were made asthe breaks happened during thawing

each morning. Someone wouldreport a water break then Ben orWillie would rush out to cap off thepipe to prevent water loss and flag itfor future repair or replacement.Jeremy and Ben spent many hoursduring the next few weeks goingback and fixing all the busted linesand getting things back in workingorder. As if we didn’t have enoughto do already!

These are just two examples ofthings that crop up unexpectedlythat consume our time. You justnever know what is going to happennext or how it will affect ourschedule and plans for the day. Allwe want to do is take care of ourpiggies!

--Donna

e have just under 600pigs here at Ironwoodand because we’ve been

open for twelve years now, much ofour population are now elderly pigsneeding more individual care. Wewould love to be able to spend allour time dealing directly with thepigs but there is so much more todo. I’ve written articles for pastnewsletters about many of theseactivities such as making the dailymedications, doing all the watering,stocking the feed stations, etc. Soeach day is scurry and hurry to getthe basics completed then alongcome surprises such as the one I

discovered one day as I was goingabout my morning chores takingcare of my own animals at myhouse. During the night a hugesaguaro cactus in our East Field hadfallen on the chain link fence,crushing it to the ground andbreaking the corner of a pig shelter.We were extremely lucky on severalcounts. One, there were no pigs inthat shelter. Two, the cactus fellinto my yard so at least the openingin the fence didn’t lead directly intothe desert. Three, if the cactus hadfallen a couple of feet to the right itwould have crushed my chickenyard possibly killing my four hens.Four, it happened at night so no pigswww.ironwoodpigs.org [email protected]

It’s Not Just Pigs IRONWOOD PIG SANCTUARY Issue 52

WKEEPING US BUSY



You can make secure One-Time orMultiple Monthly Sponsor or

Sustainer donations to the Sanctuarywith PayPal (no PayPal accountrequired) using your credit card bygoing to the SUPPORT page of our

web site at www.ironwoodpigs.org. Orif you have a PayPal account you canmake a donation using our e-mailaddress [email protected].

Remember the Sanctuary in your WillWe have been the recipient of bequests from many supporters. And many current

supporters have included the sanctuary in their wills. Attorneys like to include the tax IDnumber in your will for the non-profit organization you are donating to. If yours does, thenyou must include our parent organization, The Mary C. Schanz Foundation, in your will. OurEIN number is 86-0999483. We are doing business as (dba) the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary.There are no administrative or other expenses associated with The Mary C. SchanzFoundation. Use the PO Box address on page 16 of this newsletter.

Double or Triple Your DonationYou can easily make your donation to the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary go even further if you

work for a matching gift company. Many employers will double and sometimes triple theiremployees’ or retirees’ charitable contributions. Simply request a matching gift form from thepersonnel department of your employer, fill it out and mail it to us with your donation or use itfor one of your past donations. Check out our list of major companies that offer matching giftsat the bottom of our web site’s support page. Your gift, with your employer’s match will go evenfurther toward taking care of the 600 pot-bellied pigs at the Sanctuary.

SustainerYou can become a Sanctuary Sustainerby making a monthly donation of $5,$10, $25, $100 or any amount youchoose which can be charged to yourcredit card, debit card or e-check each

month.Your donation will be there each monthto care for the Piggies. You can use theenclosed envelope or go to our web site

to sign up.

IRA Charitable Rollover GiftDonors 70 ½ or older can rollover up to $100,000/year directly from a Traditional or Roth

IRA to a qualified charity, including Ironwood Pig Sanctuary, without paying income taxes onthe funds transferred. For those donors who do not itemize deductions, a gift from an IRA isexcluded from reportable income, thus simplifying tax returns. It also counts toward yourrequired minimum distribution (RMD). It’s convenient: Just contact your IRA administrator tomake a rollover. Current legislation allows for this opportunity only through December 31,2013.



Introducing Pigs ucy sent the following e-mail with a questionabout introducing pigs.

“Good morning! I am a proudsupporter of Ironwood Pigs andappreciate all that you do to helphomeless and/or unwanted pigs inour country. I am in need of yourguidance please:

A friend of mine has an adultmale, neutered pig named Wilbur,and she will be adopting my twoadult female pigs (Piggy Sue andPriscilla), who are not fixed.What is the best way to introducethem so they can live togetherharmoniously? Wilbur, PiggySue, and Priscilla will be livingon a 3-acre property with shelterto protect from the elements.

Any advice or suggestions youhave will be greatly appreciated!Thank you in advance for yourhelp.”

Introducing pigs together is oftena traumatic event both for the pigsand the caregivers. However, intime they almost always learn toaccept one another and willbecome friends. The best way isto have them separated for a timewith a fence between them toprevent fights but where they arenext to one another. They willusually fence fight by runningback and forth with their hair upand over the course of time willusually end up lying next to thefence up against one another.

After a period of time you can putthem in together undersupervision and let them spar withone another but be ready to breakup fights that are starting to getserious. We use a 2 X 3 ft boardto separate them. They fight for

dominance and once it isestablished who is dominant, thefighting will usually end but it canbe hard getting them there. Onoccasion one will not want tofight and just walk away when heor she is approached and that isthe easy way, but that does notoften happen.

If there is no way to separatethem, you have to expect to taketime for a few days and hangaround and break up fights but ofcourse you can't always be thereso there will be some fightingwith ears getting bitten. Since shehas 3 acres it should makes thingsa lot easier because it is mucheasier for them to get away fromeach other. If they are in a pen itis much more serious since thedominant pig can really get afterthe other one or ones and that isnot a good situation. Be surethere are enough shelters so thatthey do not have to share a shelterin the beginning.

All of this could take days orweeks. People get impatient andwant things to happen right awaybut that is not how it works mostof the time. However, they areherd animals and do enjoy thecompany of one another, so herpig will probably be happy in thelong run.

Just be prepared for taking sometime and being able to stick withthem. Sometimes, if we can, weput them together and then letthem retreat to a pen or separatearea and try again later.

I hope this has been helpful andthank you for your support.

---Mary

“This is extremely helpful, Mary.Thank you so very much!”

---Lucy

L

MISSION STATEMENTThe Ironwood Pig Sanctuary is dedicated to eliminating the suffering of pot-bellied pigs by

promoting spaying and neutering, assisting owners and other sanctuaries, and providing apermanent home in a safe, nurturing environment for those that are abandoned, abused,

neglected, or unwanted.* Ironwood Pig Sanctuary is accredited by the American Sanctuary Association.

* The Ironwood Pig Sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your donations are tax deductible.



AMAZON.COM WISH LIST

We recently set up a Wish List on Amazon.com withseveral items we use a lot of at the sanctuary. OnAmazon’s home page, click on “Wish List” in the topright corner and go to “Find a Wish List” then enterIronwood Pig. You may choose items from our list andclick on “Add to Cart” for each. When you havecompleted your selections, go to “Cart” and check out.This is another easy way to donate things we can alwaysuse. Thanks!

Asia, one of our wonderful pigs, wantedto remind everyone that we still havehats, t-shirts and more available withthe Ironwood logo. These can bepurchased through our web site atwww.ironwoodpigs.org. Just go to theSupport page and click on the picture ofour staff sporting their Ironwood hatsand shirts to get linked to the store.

Hoof & TuskTrimming

Pig owners in the Tucson,Phoenix and surrounding areascan contact Donna Thomason forpot-bellied pig tusk and hooftrimming. Donna is anexperienced trimmer living onsite at Ironwood. Donnaprovides house calls for pig andgoat trims. Please call 520-780-8832 or [email protected] to setup an appointment.

I R O NW O O D P I G S A N C T U A RY N E W S

IRONWOOD PIG SANCTUARYPOST OFFICE BOX 35490TUCSON, AZ 85740-5490520-631-6015ironwoodpigs@yahoo.comwww.ironwoodpigs.orgwww.facebook.com/IronwoodPigSanctuary


NON PROFIT ORG.US POSTAGE

PAIDTUCSON, AZ

PERMIT NO. 2216

Return Service RequestedPublished at the above address regularly.

MAY 2013ISSUE 52

EEbbbbyy,, FFllaappjjaacckk ,, PPooppeeyyee,, TTaayylloorr && DDeessii rreeee

IRONWOOD i v e r s a r y 1 2 t h A n n ISSUE MAY NO 52 2013 · Just ask Arnold and Ozzy. ......

Documents

Transcript of IRONWOOD i v e r s a r y 1 2 t h A n n ISSUE MAY NO 52 2013 · Just ask Arnold and Ozzy. ......