| December 2012 Month starts with a call from Seattle Animal Control re: three farm type piglets running loose in the city that were caught over 5 days. Judy Woods to Seattle to assess piglets. They are soon to Pigs Peace Sanctuary. They are wild and run terrified of people. The male is immediately to the veterinarian for neuter. A pig loving woman who has a pet pig with lots of acreage said she would take two piglets. She took all three! They are soon in her house and gently cared for in love. The fear leaves and these three shine as friends. It is extremely rare for us to place pigs as good homes are rare. Many want a pig yet are not aware of the work and commitment involved. It is a great day at Pigs Peace Sanctuary when we can help 3 little farm pigs that will grow to be 1,000 lbs. find a lifetime great home that will offer them acres and acres of land to explore. After 18 years of moving wood chips, supplies, weeds etc. by hand with carts and a strong back we get a tractor! Along with the tractor we also get a much needed small utility vehicle, both are put to use ASAP. The utility vehicle helps with hauling hay to the many sleeping barns in the pasture! Plus will be used daily as we take out and haul an old field fence. Senior pigs to the veterinarian for dentals and hoof trims. Our vegan store (Vegan Haven) in Seattle hosts Holiday Bake Sale for Pigs Peace Sanctuary. The money from the sale buys hay and treats for the pigs' holiday celebration. November 2012 Month starts with 91 pumpkins here for the pigs (to be given out over several days). They love the pumpkins and squashes and apples in the fall's bounty. 50 bales of hay to fill up hay beds. Call comes about a rescued injured squirrel. Call comes for help with old chickens. Call comes to take in goats. Many calls come from people who no longer want their pig now that winter is coming!! Weekend work party spreads cedar chips for pig walkways. Construction of barn wall put up and painted completed. Visiting closes for the season. The days are too short to accomplish the work for the animals AND have visitors. Our focus always has been and always will be the needs of the animals. Many senior pigs to the veterinarian for needed dentals and hoof trimming. Senior pig Pequad died. This is a very wet month with record highs of rain. We had 2 - 3 inches of rain in one day that caused to be in places water where we never had water before! Cat Greyboy emergency to the veterinarian for abscess care. Happily recovers in the house. Roofing of the house completed and roofing repair on the barn done. Yeah -no more worries of roof leaks. Pigs Peace Sanctuary's vegan store in Seattle has a new name! Sidecar for Pigs Peace is now Vegan Haven! October 2012 Month starts with continued visiting and preparations for Fall and a predicted wetter winter. We have had eleven truckloads of gravel delivered and spread before the rain starts and the ground softens. Many roofers called and the roofing project starts. It will be slow as the rain starts this month. Jasmine and Mariann from blog Our Hen House visit us on their trip from New York and interview Judy for podcast: Our Hen House #145 School groups here for visiting. It is fun to introduce all ages to the misinformation about and wonder of pigs. Tractor rented to spread gravel. A much needed project before winter mud. Roofer starts with tear down of old roof. Piglet Maggie starts with trial days in with the main herd and by the month's end she is sleeping with new friends. She loves exploring the fields yet stays close to the group for guidance. New volunteers visit and start. One amazing visitor noticed our house was in desperate need of painting. Said she ran a paint business for years and two days later came with equipment to paint the house on the weathered side before the new roof goes up. Thank you Michelle Hash! We love volunteers who come with skills to share! School visitors here. Many have never seen a pig before and learn much! A very enjoyable visit with requests to come back with family and friends. Judy Woods receives surprise call from Chase announcing Pigs Peace Sanctuary awarded top regional grant. Judy to Chase Fall Festival in Seattle at Pike Place Market to gratefully receive the donation for the sanctuary! Our vegan store in Seattle - Sidecar For Pigs Peace - hosts a weekend bake sale for the pigs. Lots of treats for buyers gave a nice bonus to the pigs! September 2012 This month continues full with visitors daily. We also start the work of Fall with 22 dump truck loads of wood shavings for dry Winter walkways for the pigs. We have no tractor so all 440 yards of shavings are moved by hand with pitchforks and carts and great love for the pigs! We have work parties three weekends accomplishing much more work - painting, cleaning, fencing, and moving chips. We take in a 6 week old piglet who is people shy and full of mange. We name her Maggie and she starts life here in quarantine in the house. 120 bales of hay delivered and stacked. Pig barns filled with fresh hay beds. Local Stanwood Chase Bank employees nominate Pigs Peace Sanctuary for the Chase Community Giving campaign. We ask for votes from Sanctuary friends and thanks to voting we are in the top 196 charities (out of 3,000 charities). Pigs Peace Sanctuary wins $10,000 -yahoo! We now have the resources to re-roof the house. With water damage inside and holes in the roof it is a relief to be able to have a new roof! Thank you to all who voted. Month ends with senior pot belliedpig Piggert's death. He was in with other senior pig friends and will be missed. August 2012 Month starts very sadly with big pig Willow's death. Years ago she was rescued from having lived wild for over 2 years. She came to us afraid and elusive. She transformed into a sweet gentle pig with many friends. Her time with us will always be remembered with deep affection. First weekend is a work party with a fencing project completed. New volunteers to start. Island County calls us with a desperate need to borrow equipment to help a terrified lost dog. We are happy to help when we can. The dog is safely found. We are called regarding a pig hoarding situation in Eastern Washington. Calls regarding pigs found on highway. Calls regarding pig needing re-homing due to owners death. We help if we can, but must say no at times. A tough decision. This month is FULL of visitors. Almost daily we introduce people to pigs living in sanctuary. Month ends with 3 geriatric pigs to the veterinarian for hoof trims and dental care. July 2012 Month starts with many visitors of all ages here to meet pigs. Volunteers help with much needed barn painting and fence removal. Since May farm pig Jezebel loves being in the yard with Elsie . Daily they are in the pond together on hot days. It was unexpected when Jezebel was unable to get up one day and had labored breathing. Emergent medical care given with no improvement. All visitors and volunteers cancelled due to Jezebel's unstable state and our need to have her receive our full attention. Sadly, after several days Jezebel died. Her young friend Elsie does not understand and talks to her friend. Very sad. Elsie moved to area with her other friends -Ziggy and piglets and Zoo pig Wilbur. A sad day when unexpectedly healthy potbellied piglet Bonnie died. The veterinarian suspects congenital heart defect. Lumber delivered and a group of pig loving volunteers build our much needed ramp for our visitor restroom. It is almost complete for all to use. Yeah. Kyle from Edgar's Mission Animal Sanctuary in Australia visits Pigs Peace Sanctuary as one stop on his USA - Canada trip. Veterinarian who last saw piglet Elsie at her X-ray clinic appointment watches her walk and run here with no limitations and is astounded by her ability to ambulate. He says her X-ray tells us she should not be walking. Elsie tells us differently. She can run?? Remarkable! June 2012 Month starts with a nine month old mommy pot belliedpig to the veterinarian for a spay. She is soon in her new home with another pig! Sadly, while she is there our senior potbellied pig Pearl died quietly with her best friend Betty Lou by her side. After over a year of waiting for a promise of financial help when we took the pigs from a shutdown Montana animal sanctuary we received a call from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries saying "Sorry, no funds will ever come". This was difficult as our veterinarian bills from the rescued pigs were enormous due to their unhealthy condition. We needed the promised support. Girl Scouts of Western WA Troop #42441 visited with the "Towel Drive" success for the pigs. Pigs Peace was their community service project. Many, many visitors here this month. New volunteers visit and work. We take in farm pig Lucy from her short home with the man who saved her. He was not prepared for her needs and wanted the best for her, afull life with other pigs. At a private dinner in Seattle Judy Woods meets Wayne Pacelle of HSUS and invites him to visit Pigs Peace Sanctuary. Calls come from a concerned house sitter who is caring for a pig who lives tied outside. Potbellied pig Olivia here from Olympia after her spay recovery at the animal shelter. She is very timid and shy. Understood after the abuse her "family" did to her she was tied up wrapped in a tarp and drug screaming. She will only know true love at Pigs Peace Sanctuary. We rent a tractor and mower to mow our very tall grass in the pigs' field. Then piglets Elmer, Maynard and Gus are out in the main herd to grow up and live with the other pigs. Month ends with our Education Room complete enough to welcome visitors to browse. May 2012 Month starts with a call notifying us of the sudden death of potbellied pig trainer Priscilla Valentine. Priscilla and her husband Steve traveled for years with their famous performing pigs educating people in how smart pigs are! Steve recently preceded Priscilla in death and we were contacted to be a potential home for Priscilla's four pigs. The pigs were placed in homes. In honor of Priscilla and Steve Valentine and their love for pigs the family gave a generous donation to Pigs Peace Sanctuary. We decided to use the much needed funds to help rebuild our Education Center. A lasting legacy to help pigs. Piglet Elsie to veterinarian for follow up x-rays and spay. Horrible X-ray results reveal total damaged hip. Veterinarians recommend euthanasia now as she should not be able to walk. Elsie is brought home to the sanctuary with the plan of a brief time free in the yard with other pigs. She had lived confined in the house in hopes of healing and I wanted her to have a sanctuary life with others no matter how brief it would be. Elsie moves freely with no apparent pain. Three pigs to veterinarian for dentals and hoof trims. Visitors from Oregon and Australia. Judy Woods to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah for consult on pig care. All at Best Friends love the pigs very much. Very impressive to want to do the work and make changes to give their pigs the best life they can. Calls to Pigs Peace with complaints and concerns of animals living in a 'sanctuary' in Montana. Caller wants place shut down due to how bad he thought it was. Many want to have a sanctuary and many sanctuaries fail due to the unrealistic idea of what is involved. The animals always suffer! Taking a 'How to start a sanctuary' class IS NOT ENOUGH! We call authorities and others to help. Four new potbellied pigs here. A young nine month old pig and her three 7 week old female piglets. The plan is to have all spayed prior to finding great pig homes. Typically a pig must be 3-4 months of age for a spay procedure. Our veterinarian spays the piglets at 8 weeks very successfully. Sadly, that same day, one of our senior pigs Jenea died. Calls from a man on the Olympic Peninsula who fell in love with and got a pig on her way to slaughter. He is a special man to care so much. He says Lucy the pig is the remarkable one. He had no idea they were so sweet! He calls us for advice and a visit here. Month ends with a call from Olympia Animal Services about a potbellied pig that was hog tied, drug out of the house screaming to be wrapped in a tarp and taken to the shelter! People can be so cruel! Work starts on our Education room. Large senior farm pig Jezebel to the yard for special care of her chronic foot condition. April 2012 Piglet Gus happy to move to the yard and he quickly buddies up with Maynard and piglet Elmer. It is very adorable to watch these three on adventures exploring. It was just a short time ago they came from separate places, scared and afraid. Now they happily come running when called. Our three pig veterinarians here for farm call and consult regarding Elsie's recovery. Elsie has upper airway breathing. She always sounds like she snores and frequently mouth breaths. She continues in confinement in the house with her damaged hip. Best Friends in Utah calls Judy for help with pig aggression. Judy Woods always happy to share what the pigs have taught her. With 20 years of experience with pigs from all backgrounds, ages and behaviors, Judy has much knowledge. We cut down an oak tree next to the water pump by the barn. Spring is wet, but appears to be on its way with the grass growing lush. The pigs love the longer daylight hours. Calls come to help with opossum babies, roosters, peacocks, guinea hens, cats that bite and urinate. We always help when we can, but can't help all. Potbellied pigs Fern, Levi and Petunia to veterinarian. Levi died. A very sad day. Our organic garden is partially planted. Sanctuary dog Ben to veterinarian for growing, unusual ear tumor removal. A pallet of V-Dog delivered with the semi-truck getting stuck in our driveway. A big ordeal. All sanctuary dogs have loved V-Dog for years. The pigs are extremely happy to have it as a treat. Piglets Gus and Maynard to Bake Sale to benefit the sanctuary held in Seattle at our all vegan store Sidecar for Pigs Peace. They are great little people greeters. After a long wait pig Wilbur arrives from Woodland Park Zoo. He quickly unloads and is curious about the huge place he moves to. There is deep grass to munch on and many pig friends to meet. A vast difference from life at the zoo. New volunteers oriented to work. Visitors from San Diego here. Visitors from India surprise us. Elsie piglet continues healing in confinement in the house. March 2012 Month starts with calls from the sheriff several counties away regarding 3 loose pigs and angry people. Judy Woods helps with pigs and people. Piglet Gus to the veterinarian for neuter. He continues in the house. Senior potbellied pig Posh died after a long battle with cancer. We will miss her. Large lame pig Judee continues with intensive care with for her leg. She continues in the yard by the house receiving 42 pills daily. Finally abscess #6 opened, drained and cleaned and Judee able to go back to the main herd. A huge celebration!! The very day of Judee's recovery a call comes about a piglet who fell onto the highway from a moving truck. She is brought to us lame, with very labored breathing. She is absolutely terrified. Emergency medications given and, with a bed of blankets. She is barely able to breath with severe pneumonia. We name her Elsie. Elsie must be given strong antibiotic injections daily to fight the pneumonia yet she is terrified of humans. It is heart wrenching to try and make her feel safe and secure yet I must give her shots even though I konw that she is afraid. She is so sick it is too soon to know if she will live. Her pneumonia is also possibly the type that is very contagious to other pigs so piglet Gus must be moved to another room in the house for his safety. They cannot share air space. After ten days Elsie is changed to stronger antibiotics and within a week is much improved! She is then able to survive anesthesia for x-rays of her damaged leg. The results are depressing. Her hip is severely shattered and irreparable. She must continue to live in the house with confinement and limited mobility for 8 weeks as this is her only hope for healing this damaged body. She will be crippled her entire life. Potbellied pig Cooter suffered a stroke and died one week later. February 2012 Where there is a will there is a way. Our new forklift sits in the gravel driveway unable to get to the inside of the barn due to the wet ground. We start the work of building a very large barn door and having a cement slab and ramp built to make access easy. On a sunny winter day the barn side was scraped and painted. A long needed project accomplished. We had a horrible experience here! When we moved to this farm the place next door was a chicken farm that killed 26,000 chickens every 6 weeks. They then did calves and now have pigs. We had a horrible experience here when they slaughtered the pigs next door. Our sanctuary pigs were so scared they ran into the woods. It was very, very sad!! Woodland Park Zoo contacts Pigs Peace Sanctuary. Judy Woods went to the zoo to meet Ossabaw Island pig Wilber, sees his life at the zoo and knows the freedom he will have at the sanctuary. She quickly says yes to letting him retire at Pigs Peace Sanctuary. It will take a couple of months before he can be moved. A call comes about a 5 week old potbellied piglet bought on impulse at a pet store. Within 5 days he had 4 different homes. People took him because he is cute and adorable, but no longer wanted him when they they found out he is wild, fearful, full of mange mites and not neutered. We take the little guy and name him Gus. Mange is extremely contagious to other pigs so Gus starts sanctuary life in quarantine in the house with Judy. This also is a very quick way to gently make friends and calm his fears. The day after piglet Gus came we take in 4 month old potbellied piglet Elmer, who was aggressive to the family children and sent to live on a harness staked in the yard. Elmer is happy to be free with other pigs! Elmer immediately buddied up with his newfound best friend, younger potbellied pig Maynard. The month ends as a winter month in the Pacific Northwest of the USA does, wet and with snow again. January 2012 Month starts and continues with calls from people wanting to re-home their pig. Many think someone else will love their pig like they do. The sad reality is after the initial novelty many pigs live out their lives in isolation and neglect. We do the best we can to help, but certainly are limited with housing and resources. Big farm pig Judee's abscess drained and cleaned. Culture sent resulting in an additional new antibiotic. Judee is now receiving 42 pills a day! and only 6 taste good! She continued lame. We received the call about a 10 week old potbellied pig in an overfull animal shelter who's time is up. He is scared, not neutered and full of mange. We take him and start his healing with friendship, veterinarian neuter and mange meds. His new name is Maynard. Deep snow hits mid month with a cold snap. For comfort and warmth the pigs get extras deep hay beds. Clean up after a week of snow is quite horrible. Potbellied pig Bella has spinal difficulties, goes to the veterinarian and dies 3 weeks later. A very sad ordeal. A wet winter requires hard work, drains dug and trenches cleared. Three trees planted in one of the pig fields. | 
