MY SEARCH FOR A ‘PIGANTHRO
Having saved horses, dogs, cats and goats for years, singer Cathy Davey has moved on to pigs, who she says are the most loving, sensitive and intelligent animals – but she needs financial help to continue her work
Dirty pig, sweaty pig, greedy as a pig – we humans give porkies a bad rap. There is, however, one woman who loves pigs and speaks out passionately in their defence. That woman is Cathy Davey, the award-winning singer and songwriter who has devoted the past 11 years to animal welfare, being the co-founder of the My Lovely Horse, My Lovely Dog, My Lovely Cat, My Lovely Goat and My Lovely Pigs rescues. Cathy is so busy running all her animal charities, that she has stopped performing to focus on the creatures in her care.
It is an all-consuming commitment: the My Lovely Pig rescue has grown from one pig nine years ago to an operation with over 150 pigs on site today. Cathy and her team care for their charges with deep respect and empathy, but she is saddened by the plight of abandoned pigs in Ireland, particularly in the wake of Covid.
Visiting Cathy’s farm, you visualise the fictional Dr Dolittle who could talk to the animals – Cathy speaks to every animal she meets, addressing them as individuals. She greets Mabel, Jimmy, Rosie and Otis warmly and the pigs absolutely speak back to her. They grunt, snort, wag their tails and are animated, some even rolling over and presenting themselves for a full belly rub. It is apparent that Cathy loves the pigs, but also too that the pigs have bonded with her.
The degree to which they interact and their curiosity about humans is striking – they are social, playful, obviously intelligent and keen to mingle, even with a stranger. There is a wide variety of breeds on the farm including Old Spots, Tamworths, large black and large white pigs, and all kinds of crossbreeds. They are here because they have been abandoned, surrendered or found wandering. From teeny, tiny piglets to matronly sows and stately boars, the My Lovely Pig Rescue is their sanctuary and their home.
Cathy wants to highlight the escalating pig crisis and share her insights into these creatures, who she says have always been exploited and misrepresented. ‘We started off with dog rescue, then we moved into horse rescue because there was a need for it, then we moved into taking in any animal that needed us and that included pigs,’ she says. ‘All of us believe that every animal deserves a chance so what started with one pig on the other farm, opened me up to taking a pig here. One pig turned into this, because once you take one in you realise what you’ve been missing in your life.
‘They’re social and they love the people that they know – it’s something that you don’t get unless you come here and see it with your own eyes. I always loved the idea of pigs and I always loved and worked with animals, but until I had them, I didn’t realise how many human traits there are in pigs. People always compare them with dogs, whereas that’s trying to oversimplify for the sake of getting you to understand that you shouldn’t be cruel to them.
‘They’re all really, really intelligent and we still treat them as if they’re not sentient beings in the world. So obviously intelligence has nothing to do with the way we empathise with animals. But if people understood how many human traits they have