A pig named Beacon was sold to a family after being born to a breeder — he was coined a “mini-pig.”
The breeder then informed the family that if they wanted to keep Beacon tiny, they should only feed him very small portions of food and they should additionally house him in a smaller space to stunt his growth.
So that’s exactly what the family did —- keeping Beacon in a fish tank.
But after time passed, Beacon’s family made the choice that the mini-pig was too much work and put an ad up on Craigslist for him to be with another family.
Thankfully, someone viewed the post and shared it on a pig group via Facebook — where Beacon’s future family learned about him and decided they would step in to save the poor pig.
Anna Hoffman knew she needed to help Beacon as soon as she saw the photos posted to Facebook. Hoffman already had one pig living in her house and she had not planned to have another addition but Beacon was not in a good place and she shared with The Dodo how she knew she would not be able to stop thinking about him until he was safe. So the very next day, both Hoffman and her husband drove to go rescue Beacon.
“When I picked Beacon up, I was in complete shock,” Hoffman shared with The Dodo. “The pictures I had seen were awful, but in person, it was even worse. His hooves were about 3 inches long and he couldn’t even walk properly. He was so skinny, all you saw was bone. He was terrified of everything. I tried to offer him a small piece of cookie to see if he would come near me but he wouldn’t.”
Beacon was abused so much that he was scared of everything. Hoffman shared how it was a struggle for both herself and her husband to move him into a crate so they could take him home. After they were able to transport Beacon safely, the very next day – Hoffman took Beacon to the vet.
Upon arriving at the vet’s office, everyone present was beside themselves at how tiny and weak Beacon was. The vet conducted X-rays, blood work and a few other exams — thankfully coming to the conclusion that Beacon did not have any residual health issues despite being very underweight.
But as the pig only weighed 11 pounds and had been without food for so long, Hoffman was required to introduce the right amount of food and water to him as slowly as possible so she would not shock the pig’s system and make him iller.
“When I first got him, he was terrified of anyone and everything,” Hoffman stated. “I spent hours and hours sitting near his crate, talking to him and trying to pet him. I would put his crate near me and leave the door open so he could venture out at his discretion.”
After a long while, Beacon finally started to trust his new family and is no longer tiny! At times, he can be jumpy and does not like being pet but he still adores being with his new family as well as running outside and spending time with his pig sister, Charlotte.
“He loves eating grass,” Hoffman shared. “Probably more than most. I think it’s because it’s so new to him. I don’t believe he ever saw grass the first two years of his life. When I sit outside with them, he eventually comes and lays at or on my feet. The fact that his tail is constantly swishing back and forth warms my heart.”
Since joining his new family, Hoffman wants to do everything she can to make his life the best possible — and that includes educating others about “mini pigs” and how they do not exist.
“Our mission is to spread awareness every single chance we can that there is NO such thing as ‘micro,’ ‘teacup’ pigs,” Hoffman stated. “That is just a lie that breeders tell. I like to tell people that in terms of growth, pigs are like humans. We don’t know what size and shape we will grow up to be and pigs are the same.”
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