A cattle truck was speeding along a highway in Western Australia transporting, among others, an adorable four-month-old piglet now known as Wombat. The animals were being taken to a slaughterhouse but little Wombat had something else in mind.
Incredibly, she managed to climb up the rim of the truck's trailer and instantly hurled herself to freedom.
Just imagine driving behind that truck and watching something emerge through the roof only to realize that it’s a pig! Amazingly, the people driving the car right behind the truck saw the whole escape. They quickly pulled off the road and checked in on her.
Wombat was in bad shape. They scooped her up and took her to Mandurah Wildlife Rescue, a veterinary hospital and rehabilitation center, where her wounded snout and eye socket got taken care of. But there were so many other injuries from the fall that the vets weren’t sure she would survive the night.
Well, Wombat had a spark in her, that’s for sure. She made it through the night and just a few months later she’d gone from 6.5 lbs to almost 90! And not only had she escaped slaughter but now she would move to Greener Pastures Sanctuary.
Today Wombat is a big, happy pig, and though she has a slightly crooked snout and jaw, and little scar on her chin, she couldn’t be more appreciated and cared for! The most beautiful part is what she now offers others: children, the elderly, and disabled people come spend time there and she befriends them and snuggles with them.
"She often lies down and the kids hug her and kiss her. She would spend all day like that, I think," says Rachael Parker, the founder of Greener Pastures.
Wombat’s best friend is a miniature pig named Freckle whose previous owner had starved her to keep her from growing.
While Wombat is a special little creature, Rachael makes the point that all the animals at the center are extraordinary in one way or another. "Wombat is like the other pigs in the truck where she was going. She simply dared to escape and lived to tell. All of them want to live and be loved, and I dare say they know what awaits them at the end of that trip in the truck.”
Check out this video of adorable Wombat in action:
Thanks to centers like Greener Pastures, farm animals like Wombat get another chance.
To help them out you can donate here so more animals like this brave little piglet can experience a peaceful, species-appropriate — and truly meaningful! — existence. All living creatures deserve a life of dignity.
Source: The Dodo, credit:http://www.hefty.co/
