A Carluke woman is living with a 20-stone pig after it was sold online as a so-called “micropig”.
Morag Sangster welcomed the hog named Francisco to her animal sanctuary three years ago.
But he became too used to home comforts and is now kept company by Morag in her three-bedroom house in Braidwood.
Three-year-old Francisco was advertised as a micropig and had an Instagram account which caught the eye of a 15-year-old girl who begged her parents to purchase the cute animal, thought to have cost over £700.
The con is more common than people think, says Morag as she raises awareness of what she believes is an animal welfare issue.
Morag told the Wishaw Press: “He was getting too big for the people who bought him. They thought they were getting a very small pig and then he kept growing.
“It can be slightly unscrupulous breeders selling so-called micropigs and they’re leading people down the garden path on how small they’ll stay and then people end up with this big pig which they can’t accommodate.
“A lot of the time they end up lonely in a small pen in a garden somewhere.”
Morag and her husband look after more than 100 animals at Tribe Animal Sanctuary in Carluke which ranges from sheep and Highland cows to turkeys, geese, cats and dogs.
Also in Morag’s home lives four dogs and two cats, and if an animal from the sanctuary is unwell, they stay in the house too.
“Francisco has his own bed, he sleeps with the dogs upstairs and they all get on great”, added Morag.
“It’s very common. There’s a handful of breeders in the UK and they sell their piglets for between £650-800 and they’re just breeding all the time.
“There’s no rehoming centres for pigs like there are for cats and dogs. They’re really hard to rehome and a lot of them get slaughtered which is sad.”
The Carluke sanctuary provides a loving home for animals until they die of natural causes.
Francisco is fed pet pig pellets which are less fattening than what is used for pigs fed for commercial use. Morag says his diet is more nutritious as he is not being fattened up for market. He also has a sweet tooth and loves grapes and melon.
Morag explained: “Mostly what we see is people surrendering animals they can’t look after anymore and we do a lot of educating online and people contact us through our social media.
“We’re hoping other people follow our lead and open animal sanctuaries and take on animals.
“Pigs make great companions but you need to have the resources to keep them. They need outdoor space, solid fencing and a companion. They need love, attention and time dedicated to it.”
Unable to work currently in her trade as a tattoo artist, Morag has enjoyed having more time to spend with the animals.
However, she wants to make people aware that small pigs called ‘micropigs’ on Instagram is simply untrue – a big porky.
Morag added: “There isn’t any such thing as a micropig. It became popular through social media when people were putting up pictures of tiny piglets and dressing them up.
“People started believing that that’s the way they stay and obviously they don’t. This myth and all these pictures have already been generated and are still floating around the internet.
“When you see pages that post their ‘micropigs’ you’ll see they stop posting after about three months once they realise they’re not as small.”
