10/09/2026
We have had a devastating loss this week of our sweet, giant farm girl, Apple. She made me a farm pig mom and introduced me to the joy of raising a piglet so calm and trusting. I took her to work and everywhere as I bottle fed her every 3 hours and helped her recover from the awful conditions she had been living in at a factory farm.
People would say “don’t you wish she would stay this size forever?”. I would say no, I want her to grow to be who she is meant to be. And it was such an honor to allow her live 9 years.
Recently though I’ve felt torn about that, and so angry at the meat industry that bred her to grow so large her body failed prematurely.
Apple was born into a Smithfield factory farm, bred to be killed as a baby at 6 months. She had deadly illnesses such as staph, erysiphelas, and pneumonia. She made it out of there by a miracle but couldn’t escape the genetics that bred her as a commodity.
She grew into a rambunctious, giant baby. The circumstances that she was born into will never define her because she was so much more. She is defiant, playful, sassy, and a true queen, she was loved by her siblings and the volunteers that sat by her in her last days and hours.
I have a feeling her spirit will dwell. I hope she snouts the water hose for every volunteer to tell them she loves them. And I hope she haunts the people that did this to her body.
I will always picture her barreling down the pasture with her giant ears flipping, or gazing out at the scenery from her favorite spot in the world, her mudpit.
Rest well and powerful sweet baby🌺💜
