Scared piglet was thrown ‘like a Nerf football’ during Mardi Gras. Now he needs home
Among the colorful festivities happening across New Orleans during the Carnival season, a bystander spotted three men tossing around what appeared to be a miniature football, according to a Louisiana nonprofit.
But on a closer look, the person realized it wasn’t a football — it was a “terrified piglet,” Humane Society of Louisiana Executive Director Jeff Dorson said in a Feb. 17 Facebook post.
The Good Samaritan then rushed over to get the group to stop tossing the piglet around “like a Nerf football,” he said in a Feb. 18 post.
The bystander asked the men to hand over the “adorable” pig — which they did — and brought it to a friend, Dorson said. The baby pig, named Piglet, was then brought to the nonprofit to care for him.
Piglet was sent to a vet clinic for his vaccinations and to “decompress” from the frightening incident, Dorson said. While Piglet didn’t have any serious injuries, he likely was very stressed and fearful, WAFB reported.
The nonprofit wanted to ensure Piglet would have enough time “recovering and resting” before considering adoption, he said. As a way to get Piglet acclimated to being around others, Dorson said in a Feb. 17 video that he would be having a “sleepover” with some opossums rehabilitated by a local wildlife rescuer.
“We’re using Piglet’s story to remind folks to always be kind and considerate of all animals, especially baby pigs!” Dorson wrote in a Feb. 19 post.
Piglet has started “enjoying life as a little pig again” after getting lots of love and attention from the nonprofit staff, Dorson said. There were two applicants to adopt Piglet, including a Louisiana state representative, as of Feb. 19, WAFB reported.
