As the festive season sped towards its climax, a pregnant sow gave birth to seven little piglets. Yet sadly, only three would survive. The cold, wet and wind-swept concrete of the pound yard made it a barren place, a place that provided no material for Carol to build the extravagant nest her every being was telling to build. Expectant mother pigs go to great and creative lengths, collecting sticks, twigs and branches to fashion a nest to safely birth their babies in.
Despite her fear, Carol remained gentle as she followed the crate of her surviving babies into the vehicle that would take them to their forever home, and the soft golden straw-filled barn that awaited. Her sweet songs of joy as she was reunited with her piglets ensured there wasn’t a dry eye in the manger.
We could not help but wonder, looking into her intelligent eyes, what made her determine her escape from the farm in which she had been held? Perhaps it was the thought of her babies being taken away from her as all her previous ones had; perhaps she dreamed something better lay ahead.
What we do know is that Carol, Cookie, Candy and Kris Kringle found sanctuary at Edgar’s Mission together, just in time for Christmas.
*While we don’t know exactly what Carole is dreaming of, we do know she dreams. Possessed with the same neural pathways that are important for sleeping and dreaming, there is no reason to believe that pigs and indeed all other animals do otherwise.
Luckily for Carol and her babies, their dreams will carry on beyond this Christmas, but sadly for most other pigs theirs will not. Converted into pork, ham and bacon, no one will ever get to know what incredible and unique animals they really were.
