Growing up "Gramma": And The Mission Continues

Heels dug in, that is the only way to describe the attitude of The Humane Society Of Missouri. They have possession of poor Randy the Pig and they will release him to no one. Several veterinarians have tried, to no avail. I am absolutely baffled by their response.

Today Dawn went to the Longmeadow facility where Randy has been moved to. It is a division of the Humane Society of Missouri, and as such, also have their heels dug in. When Dawn asked the director why she couldn't take Randy home, she was told it was against their policy. Dawn asked to see the policy, politely, she was told they were not required to provide their policy to anyone.

Dawn asked if she could at least see Randy, and was told no. It was against policy.

Dawn told me about the Longmeadows. This is a "rescue" facility. A "non-profit" that is always asking for donations. A place that, you would kind of expect to be adequate but maybe a bit run down due to tight funds. Apparently, they have a LOT more funding then they let on.

Longmeadows is basically a rescue for abused and neglected farm animals and livestock, (another reason why a PET pig should not be there.) They have many horses, the animals are well cared for. Very well cared for. The facility that is always crying poor has an indoor riding arena, a covered picnic pavilion, concert floors in all of the barns, and more. It s a multi million dollar facility. A facility any state fair would kill to have. I'm from Iowa, we take our state fair very seriously, and from what Dawn described, even our state fair would be very jealous of this place.

Longmeadows has other pigs that they are "trying" to find homes for. However, their barn is up a hill away from the main buildings. Dawn said it too was a nice barn. The pigs are taken care of well physically. They have proper food, water and shelter. However, these are PET pigs. They need social interaction. They need to be played with and loved on. Dawn agreed with the director that the pigs were being well taken care of physically. They were smaller than her pig, Patrick, but Patrick really likes his acorns so that was not worrisome. Then Dawn asked the director how often someone went up the hill to play with an interact with the pigs. She already knew the answer by the way the pigs reacted to her. One was starving for love and came right up to her begging for some attention. Another had turned a sad corner and snapped at her. She worries whether that poor guy can be rehabilitated and become a pet again. The response she got from the director to her direct question was, "it's time for you to leave." It's very sad to learn how little they know about caring for these pigs.

Longmeadows main mission as it appeared to Dawn is with horses. Which is great, horses need rescued quite often, too. The other animals seem to be an after thought, something they can use for cute pictures on their website. They do try to adopt them out, but again that seems to be more of an after thought as well. Their hours that they are open to the public are not conducive to adopting out a lot of animals. Their website states they are only open 12 to 3 on Fridays, and 11 to 3 on Saturday. They are open to the public for seven hours a week. S.E.V.E.N hours a WEEK! How many animals are they going to be able to adopt out being open seven hours a week?

Now, Longmeadows is not a sanctuary, it is a kill facility. Animals they can't place aren't necessarily going to happily live out their days in bliss there. Apparently, though, euthanizing is preferred to them than working with breeders, even great breeders like Dawn. How can we know for sure though, they don't need to provide their policies to anyone.

As far as them being a struggling facility in desperate need of donations, the director of Longmeadows makes over $236,000 a year, Dawn, after expenses, after selling 9 piglets last year, made less than $1,000... for the whole year. Hmmm.... just who is profiting off of animals here? Bad Dawn, you evil breeder.

Again I will ask you for help. One of Longmeadows major corporate sponsors is Petco. I love Petco. I shop there all of the time. I don't fault them for the, perhaps, questionable "policies" of the Humane Society of Missouri and its adjunct facilities. However, since they won't work with anyone to release Randy it is time to start yanking at their purse strings. Please, e-mail Petco, post to its social media sites. Tweet them, post to their Facebook wall, Google+ them, whatever social media you use, find them and let them know what their corporate dollars are being used for. Petco

Also, please contact the media. Again, use social media. Post especially to St. Louis media outlets. FOX2Now kdnl30 Don't forget the newspaper. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch & STLtoday.com Go ahead and try national outlets too, but I can't imagine them being worried about one little pig. You never know though. Don't think that just because you don't live in the St. Louis area that you shouldn't post. Do it anyway. It can't hurt.

Keep Posting to Humane Society of Missouri, and also Longmeadow Rescue Ranch. Maybe they will get so sick of hearing from us they will give up Randy in exhaustion. You can try calling, but they don't answer their phone and they don't return messages.

We need to keep the pressure up and make this grow.

Don't forget to use the hashtag #bringRandythePigHome Thank you all for all of your help and support.

One more thing, while I hate what they are doing to Randy, I would ask one thing. There are, as I said, several other mini pigs at their facility. Some are pot bellie, and one Dawn said looked like a Julianna. If you know someone who knows pigs, how to care for a pet pig, and would love a new additions to their family let them know about these babies. Not to help Longmeadow, but to help these piggies get with happy families and out of this place that doesn't understand them.