Pigs

Pepa was taken away during an intervention from a place that looked more like a rubbish dump than a home for an animal. She was there all alone – in a makeshift pen made of pallets, with a flimsy shelter and no bedding.

Her keeper looked in on her far too rarely, and it showed on her body – she was emaciated and her trotters were overgrown. Nails stuck out of the pallets, and the troughs were dirty and empty.

When Pepa came to us, she was wary and avoided contact. She was afraid of people and would even try to scare us off. Over time, though, step by step, she began to trust us and let us touch her.

Thanks to the Foundation’s efforts, the person responsible was brought to justice – he was convicted of cruelty towards her and the court ordered the pig to be forfeited. That is how Peppa became a fully fledged resident of Ktosiowo.

Today Pepa loves eating and wallowing in the mud (it’s her element!). Unfortunately, she also has a weakness for teasing her companion a little – Bruno, whom she sometimes shows who’s boss. She can be a bit possessive at mealtimes and would happily grab Bruno’s portion for herself, but apart from that she is a sweetheart and very clever. What she loves most is spreading and arranging the straw so that it’s nice and soft and cosy – and I’ll tell you a secret: at night she snuggles up to Bruno, as if to say: “Don’t be cross, it’s only out of love.”

Bruno – gentle, sensitive and… very talkative.

He came to us straight from a home where he lived with his human family. He didn’t even know he was a pig – he was treated as a household companion, not a farm animal.

It was a very difficult decision – the family loved Bruno, but when the 2-kilogram piglet grew into a youngster of over 60 kilograms (and was still growing!), life in a flat became impossible.

When he arrived at Ktosiowo, he moved in with Peppa straight away. His keeper stayed with him all day and all night to help him find his feet in his new reality and to reassure him.

Bruno, whose sensitivity shows itself in loud calling every time Peppa looks at him “the wrong way”, slowly learned what it’s like to be a real pig.

He watched Peppa wallowing in the mud, rooting in the soil and dozing in the straw – and in the end he started enjoying all those piggy pleasures himself.

Today Bruno is enjoying life in Ktosiowo. He loves bananas and nuts, knows a few commands and is remarkably bright – he can sit and lie down, and often even shows off his skills before anyone has had a chance to say a word (anything for a treat!).

You can hear him from afar – because although he’s big, he is still gentle and sensitive, and his trademark grumbling about Peppa is by now one of the everyday sounds of Ktosiowo.