Once upon a time…
Rosie the pot-bellied pig lived on a care farm in the Applegate Valley of the Siskiyou Mountains. Deep down inside she knew she was a lucky pig to live on a big, beautiful farm where there were lots of other animals to play with and where the farmers loved her and took good care of her. But she just couldn’t help feeling grumpy. Rosie never played with the other farm animals and would chase them away if they tried to make friends with her. Rosie had such a bad temper that even the really big animals like horses and cows were a little bit afraid of her.
Rosie used to live in town with a nice old woman who treated her like a princess. The woman fed Rosie her favorite treats, blueberries and carrots, and gave Rosie lots of hugs and kisses. But one day the woman started having heart trouble and her doctor said she had no choice but to find Rosie a new home. Luckily for Rosie, there was a humane society in the woman’s town that rescued needy animals. They helped the woman find Rosie a home at Sanctuary One, where Rosie could graze in green pastures and sleep in a big brown barn.
Even though she dearly missed the woman who treated her like royalty, Rosie might not have been so upset if she had known that she was destined to meet a handsome prince who would eventually become her best friend. His name was Stevie, and he wasn’t a pig like Rosie. He was a goat!
Stevie and Rosie first met one day when Rosie was taking a nap in a corner of the barn that she kept all for herself. So you can imagine how surprised Rosie was to wake up from her nap and see a big ol’ goat nibbling at her bed of straw. In pig-talk Rosie squealed, “How dare you! Get out of here!” But something strange happened. Stevie didn’t run away like all the other animals always did. Stevie just shuffled a few feet away and lay down to take a nap.
Rosie carefully smelled Stevie with her powerful pig snout. Pig snouts can tell a pig all kinds of things that our human noses can’t possibly understand. Rosie’s snout must have told her that Stevie was a nice guy and maybe even could become her friend someday, because eventually she snorted one last “Harrumph!” before curling back up in the straw to finish her nap.
The next day Rosie woke up and Stevie was still there. For the first time in a long time, Rosie didn’t feel so lonely. As the days passed it dawned on Rosie that maybe she didn’t have to be so unfriendly all the time. The people and animals on the farm started to notice Rosie was feeling better, and that made everyone else feel better, too.
Stevie had a disability that made it hard for him to walk around like the other goats. He wasn’t born that way. Before coming to live at the Sanctuary Stevie had lived with people who didn’t take good care of him. Stevie’s hooves became so long and bent out of shape that he had to start walking around on his knees. But luckily for him, someone called the sheriff and asked him to rescue Stevie and the other animals living with the bad people. Then an animal doctor fixed Stevie’s hooves and legs so that he could stand up and walk around a little bit.
Rosie didn’t care if Stevie was a goat and had trouble walking. He was a friend of hers and that was that. In fact, when other animals played too rough around Stevie or tried to take his food, she would chase them away. And Stevie didn’t care if Rosie was a pig and if she got grumpy sometimes. Rosie treated him nicely and protected him, so Stevie liked her and took comfort in being around her, too.
People who visited the Sanctuary were amazed that a little pig and a big goat could become best friends. The news spread so far that eventually some kind-hearted farmers from far away heard about Stevie and Rosie and asked the Sanctuary if they could adopt them. The Sanctuary said yes, but only if the farmers promised to let Stevie and Rosie live together. Now Stevie and Rosie live on a family farm near Portland with nice people and lots of new barnyard friends.
…and they lived happily ever after.
Farm tours are now being scheduled for September. For more information, visit Sanctuary One on the Web at www.SanctuaryOne.org, or call 541.899.8627.