A wildlife sanctuary's sweetest pair: The story of Truffles and Little Red
A pig and a chicken have formed an unlikely friendship at New Beginnings Animal Sanctuary
A former emotional support pig had been getting his own emotional support from a chicken who is helping him adapt to a new life at a B.C. wildlife rescue centre.
Truffles arrived at the New Beginnings Animal Sanctuary in Summerland, B.C., after being taken in by the B.C. SPCA earlier this year.
The 10-year-old pig had previously been an emotional support animal for a family who had to move and could not take him with them, according to New Beginnings' president Jane Long-Haggerty, who says it was "super exciting" to be able to provide him with a permanent home.
But when he arrived at the sanctuary, he was fairly shy since he wasn't used to being around a lot of other animals, she said.
"He kind of just went to a little corner," she said, adding that he shooed away other animals who tried to approach him.
But there was one exception: a recently rescued chicken named Little Red who started sharing a meal with Truffles.
"She was the only one that he didn't shoo away, and he really, really, really likes her," Long-Haggerty said. "Now they sleep together, they lie in the sun, they eat, they're together most of the time. It's really cute."
Long-Haggerty said while it's not unusual for chickens and pigs to cohabitate and get along, it is unusual for two of them to form such a close bond with each other, with Little Red hopping on Truffles's back to groom him and sometimes get rides.
"It's like they knew each other," she said.
Truffles on a weight loss journey
Truffles's story was already well-known in some quarters after coming into the SPCA in April. According to Long-Haggerty, he had briefly been in the care of another family who didn't know how to properly care for him, and he had ballooned in size to more than 300 pounds — overweight and in need of a diet.
"Truffles has a history of not eating his veggies, but is starting to find certain healthy foods that he likes," the SPCA said on his adoption page.
They also noted his history as an emotional support animal, saying that he was sure to be a "sweet and loving friend" to whoever took him in.
What they likely didn't expect was that friend would be a chicken more than 10 times smaller than him.
"When you see him, all the pigs are kind of in one corner and he's in another corner of the barn with his chicken," Long-Haggerty said. "He doesn't mind the goats being around every once in a while, but it's definitely he just wants his chicken friend."
She said he is eating a more suitable diet and engaging in regular exercise, and is also extremely friendly with people, so the sanctuary is optimistic he will reach his target weight again.
And she hopes the story will offer lessons to people, too, about the importance of understanding how to care for pets before you adopt them and about the power of friendship.
"If a chicken and a pig can be such good friends, why can't people just get along?"
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With files from Lillie-Anne Coussée