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Pets: Micro when they are born

Iit turns out that there is no such thing as a micro, mini, pocket or teacup pig.
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Micro pigs grow to approximately 150 to 200 pounds.

Purchasing an animal as a pet because of a fad is irresponsible.

You may remember the dalmatian fad after 101 Dalmatians was released. It turned out that Dalmatians are not the best family dogs and thousands of them ended up in shelters.

Then some celebrities were seen carting around tiny dogs in their purses and everyone wanted a chihuahua. They are cute but also very demanding pets. Shelters all over the United States are inundated with chihuahuas.  Then we had, and still have, the micro pig fad.

Again, a few celebrities were seen with these tiny pigs and everyone rushed out to buy one. Unfortunately, it turns out that there is no such thing as a micro, mini, pocket or teacup pig.

Micro pigs were originally bred for medical research. Because farm pigs typically grow to be 500 to 700 pounds, and are hard to work with, the vivisection industry decided to breed smaller animals that would be easier to handle. These micro pigs still grew to approximately 150 to 200 pounds, but compared to farm pigs, they were tiny.

The truth is that negligent breeders, who only care about the bottom line, are flat out lying when they advertise these pigs. They show juvenile pigs as the parents, they tell you to feed the pigs portions that are far too small for these animals, and they tell you these pigs are great indoor-only pets.

Most people are shocked when their tiny teacup grows into a much larger animal.

The only way to keep these animals small is to starve them, as many of the breeders suggest. Of course, they don’t tell you this is what you are doing. They basically tell you to feed them a diet that is meant to stunt their growth.

Many of these pigs are severely malnourished. Though pigs do make great pets, they cannot live strictly indoors. Pigs need to spend time outdoors rooting. It’s in their genetic makeup. To top it off, many municipalities do not allow pigs as pets.

Pigs can breed at four months, but they continue to grow and fill out until about five years of age.  The breeders are breeding babies with babies, which by no means results in offspring that will remain tiny.

According to some rescues, only five per cent of these pigs stay with the families that purchased them.  Many of them are given up before their first birthday.

Breeders typically charge in excess of $1,000 for these animals and don’t accept returns.

The whole micro, mini pig industry is a scam developed by unscrupulous people who don’t care one bit about the animals.

Pet pigs who are devastated by the loss of their family.  It needs to stop.

– Magdalena Romanow is a volunteer at Katie’s Place animal shelter.