Clever walkabout piggy settling in
FUGLY, the pot-bellied pig which captured the heart of Bluff residents last week when he went walkabout, has settled in his new home.
Dawn Pratt, who saw the lost little piggy’s plight on Facebook, said she had no choice but to provide Fugly with a home, after he was rescued by Trevor Steenekamp.
“I’ve got seven dogs and seven cats and, to be honest, I prefer them to people.
“The dogs are a little jealous, but Fugly has settled down well. He’s very intelligent and when it’s supper time he comes and bangs on the door. And he understands the word no. But if he’s in a loving mood, he forgets all about the word no,” said Pratt.
Her husband, Greg, is in charge of feeding the animal menagerie at their home and it seems as though Fugly already has him wrapped around his little curly tail.
Even the dogs are adjusting to the pig’s taste for the finer things in life.
“Fugly loves apples and bread with peanut butter, which he gets as snacks.
“But Greg has started boiling the vegetables we get down at the market and using the veggie water to put on Fugly’s pellets.
“Now the dogs also want veggie water on their pellets, whereas before Fugly arrived, they were quite happy with dry pellets,” said Pratt.
All the Pratt family pets are rescue animals, with the exception of Zena, the rottweiler.
Fugly currently needed lots of care and attention.
“When you take an animal in, it is like taking on a foster child. You don’t know what their life left behind was like, so it is really trial and error. He is a super, smiley little pig, though,” Dawn said.
Before his move, Fugly kept escaping from his pen at his previous home, as the owner had moved out and no one was there to keep an eye on the wandering porker.
Steenekamp rescued him a couple of times and again last week when Fugly went for an estimated 2km walk up to Brighton Road.