Paisley the Piglet has left the barn.
We coordinated her adoption today. As some of you may recall, Paisley was the young, pot-bellied pig left inside one of our main shelter's night-drop compartments. She was such a small thing. Only about 2- to 3-months old.
Today, a very lovely woman by the name of Victoria (Tori) Schatt came to the shelter and adopted Paisley. A group of Riverside County Animal Services employees selected Ms. Schatt, who lives on a two-acre property in an unincorporated pocket of Riverside County in Meadowbrook, after reviewing about a dozen personal essays from prospective Paisley parents.
Ms. Schatt's essay stuck out because she works at the Pedley Square Veterinary Clinic as an office manager. We loved that she knew the pig needed to be properly spayed – and plans to do that, as per our adoption agreement. Also, she often sees untrained pot-bellied pigs at the clinic, and she said she wanted to make sure she gave proper training to Paisley, er, Petunia. That's right, Paisley is now named Petunia – a wink, wink to Porky Pig's girlfriend.
If you would like to read Ms. Schatt's personal essay, we've copied and pasted it, below. We had asked interested adopters for a short, 200-word essay expressing why they would make the best person for Paisley.
As an aside, it would be foolish if we failed to mention that we impounded seven other pot-bellied pigs within a day or two of Paisley's night-drop surprise. These other pigs were recovered as strays from the field. We are reaching out to the folks who were interested in Paisley to see if one of these other pigs might interest them. If not, we hope these other pot-bellied pals might also get a mention in any news reports. After all, they need a home too.
Here are a few photos from her first meeting with Petunia. The woman with the long, blondish hair is Katie Schmidt, who oversees our barn and livestock area at our main shelter. She has been caring for Paisley and grooming her and socializing with her to keep her friendly and active and healthy.
Tori's essay:
Hello -
I would like to express my interest in adopting Paisley. I live on 2 acres in Meadowbrook, that is fully fence. Paisley will have lots of room to explore - however, she will be crate trained and live in the house when she isn't out playing in her 10' x 20' play yard.
I work for Dr. Marshall Scott, who routinely does Pot Belly Pig spays & neuters, and she will of course be spayed as soon as possible after adoption. As you may know, Dr. Scott was previously a large animal Veterinarian. With his advice, she will have all her vaccines and get the best veterinary care, quality food, appropriate exercise & lots of love.
I have been looking to adopt a pig for a while, and when Aimee Hoseman sent me her picture, I fell in love. I am well aware that she will reach 125+lbs, and will use positive reinforcement to train her appropriately. At the clinic, we occasionally will see pigs that were not appropriately trained when young - and I wouldn't want that for her.
Thank you for choosing me to be her new "mom".
