15/01/2017
PIGS AS PETS
There are several aspects of pig behaviour that make them suited to living with people. They are very sociable, intelligent & easily trained; they will happily sleep on their designated cushion indoors or trot along in a harness and lead for a walk round the block. I often liken owning a pig to owning a large dog as there are many similarities. Like a dog, they enjoy companionship, can be toilet trained & their intelligence allows them to interact & communicate quite well. But like a dog, they are strong with big teeth and require training & socialisation to be a good pet. Pigs also have a natural hunting instinct as pigs in the wild are omnivorous, eating plants & meat. They will hunt birds & small mammals and, although it is illegal to feed meat to pigs in Australia, this instinct is still strong and fables abound of pig farmers who have fallen in sties & been devoured by the pigs. Scary stuff, and the main reason that I advocate the responsible breeding of miniature pigs in Australia. The risk involved in owning a miniature pig is much lessened compared to larger breeds, in a similar way that spaniels offer less risk than hunting or guard dogs. Hopefully, with careful & honest breeding, the Australian Miniature Pig will become a healthy, productive breed comparable in size to a terrier rather than a Labrador.
