happy anniversary ironwood! · 2019-09-06 · ironwood pig sanctuary 34656 e. crystal visions road...

Issue 4 May 2003

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY IRONWOOD!

Ironwood Pig Sanctuary34656 E. Crystal Visions Road

Marana, AZ 85653May 1, 2003

Dear Supporter,

We have recently celebrated our two-year anniversary since breaking ground atour sanctuary. And a busy two years it has been. With a sigh of relief weare nearing completion of our major construction projects. In these two yearswe have built our complete facility with two mobile homes, water well,generator, solar power, six acre field enclosed by six foot chain link fencingwith six divided fields within, 24 pens with exercise yard, 75 or so shelters,large and small, a storage barn and about 3000 feet of water line with hosebibs and automatic waterers. We have taken in 258 pigs, most of which we havepicked up ourselves from all over AZ and as far east as Deming, New Mexico.Seven arrived from a rescue in Florida. We welcomed 75 from one sanctuary and19 from another. So life has been anything but boring as we reminisce aboutthe days when we only had a 40-hour a week regular job with two real days off.

Our retirement field for the old and disabled folks is nearing completion.Once we get our water lines in and a small barn built for their comfort, our“lifers”, as we refer to them, will move out of their pens and into a modestsize field where they have more room to roam. They will resist their move,since many of these old guys have settled into their existing pens, but oncethey make the transition, they will have a better quality of life with morecontact with their friends and extra space in which to roam.

Life continues to be very busy as we rush to prepare for the brutal summermonths ahead. Pinkerton, our only hog, and her friend Lucky have a new shaderamada. Other ramadas are being built for our other pigs. Carpet doorshave to be taken off the shelters and all the roofs are being cool coated tokeep them cooler this summer. Ben has ordered an additional 3000 gal watertank to be sure we have an adequate water supply for all of our pigs thissummer.

Our life continues at a hurried pace around ournot so hurried pigs. The phrase I hear the mostfrom our many visitors is “what contented pigs”.I think that sums it up for our many rescuedpigs and with your continued help we can keepthem that way.

Sincerely,

Mary SchanzPresident & CoFounder

PS: One evening this past week I went out atdusk to check on one of our pigs and as I walkedthrough the fields a feeling of peace and calmcame over me. All the pigs, except a few who were still grazing on some hay,had disappeared into their comfortable shelters for a safe and sound night’ssleep. I thought, “Day is done.”

IRONWOOD PIG SANCTUARY Issue 4

Mary Corky

Issue 4 IRONWOOD PIG SANCTUARY

Did you ever meet someone thatmade you do something you didn’twant to do, and it created a betterunderstanding? I was that luckyperson. Grandma Moses had softbrown eyes, tattered ears, a bulgingbelly and a cute Granny Shuffle. Itold Grammy I’m not too crazyabout these pigs. She said, “GivePigs a Chance.” I found it fairlyimpossible to deny her anything.So I stayed at Ironwood, againstwhat I thought was my betterjudgment. At first I felt uneasy andnervous around the pigs, but Ialways felt safe around Grammy.Her eyes seemed to hold a wisdomand a warmth. I noticed that shereally didn’t let other pigs push heraround. I said, “Grammy, how doyou do it?” She said, “Kid, it’s thefirst rule you learn in the pigworld.” So I thought if she can doit, so can I. If a pushy pig camealong, I pushed back and stood myground, and much to my surprisethey respected me for it. I said,“Grammy, it worked!” She said,“Of course.” Slowly but surely Istarted to get to know the pigs; tome it felt like learning a foreignlanguage. I struggled along, butGrammy made it easier by beingsupportive. Eventually, I learned tounderstand the pigs and dare I sayto love them; even some of the onesI considered mean.

There is always lots of work to bedone at Ironwood. Putting outgrain or hay, lots of pooperscooping, picking up sticks, rakingup rocks, etc.....I very often feel

driven to rid the pigs’ fields of rocks.It’s a slow and tedious process, but Ifeel the rocks are a hazard.Sometimes Grammy would just stareat me when I was on one of mycrusades. Somehow I felt her eyesupon me, and turningto look, she’d say,“Time to stop and rubthe Grandma’s belly.”I always tried to taketime to give her somegentle caresses or anice long belly rub.Belly rubs usuallymade Grammy make asound similar to a cat’spurr. That sound wasso sweet, unique, andusually made us laughand smile. When I rubbed her belly,her bliss became my own. I alwayswalked away feeling calm andhappy.

Grammy’s life, like so many shelteranimals, was one of being unloved.So many people don’t seem to thinkthrough what it takes to care for a petthe length of that animal’s life.Grammy was fairly old when herluck would change. It was then thatMary, Donna and Ben made herforget what it ever felt like not to betruly loved. After arriving atIronwood, Grammy sighed withrelief. She was with us for a year.

Sadly, endometritis was taking itstoll on our dear Grammy. The harddecision was made to allow her tolive out her life rather than risklosing her with surgery. The day

She Was The Best Grandma Ever!came when she no longer wantedto eat and the light in her eyes grewdim. She told me, “I ain’t long forthis world, kid.” I said, “We loveyou, Grammy.” She said, “I knowand I love you all, too.” We each

said goodbye to our sweet Grammyin our own way. Then we took herto our vet, Dr. Page. When Dr.Page drew near, Grammy got up onher front legs to look at her. It wasa warm greeting for her Angel ofMercy. Within moments Grammywas in that place where pigs neverfeel pain, hunger or thirst, and theyget as many belly rubs as theywant. Her face was filled withpeace.

My heart aches from missing her,but I am comforted to know shewatches over us now. Her strengthand gentleness are an inspiration tome. I try to honor her byremembering all the things shetaught me and by practicing whatshe preached. She was the bestGrandma ever!

---Margarita Callejo


Our Growing Community of HelpersAs always I want to list but a few of the people andgroups who have helped us over these last few monthsand made it possible to continue our work to providehomes for all our homeless pigs. Thanks to Eegeeswho placed donation boxes in all their restaurants inFebruary to collect money for our piggies, and to theHandi Care Adult Program who came to Ironwood tocount the funds for us. We all had bets on how muchwe collected and Abbie from Handi Care was theclosest. We collected a total of $403.82. The staff ofHandi Care, Cindy, Jessie, and Kim have beenbringing Karie, Justin, Tessa, and Abbie to Ironwoodfor several months now and they help us with manytasks like helping with mailings, breaking bread andsocializing our pigs. Thanks to all of you.

The Humane Society of Southern AZ has now spayed13 of our girls and has agreed to help us once a monthif we desire in order to support our vets, Dr. Page andDr. Staten, in their efforts to provide the best medicalcare for our pigs. This is wonderful for us because itmakes it easier to place our girls into new homes.Many of our older rescued females are in need of spaysfor medical reasons so this will help us to get themscheduled for their needed surgeries. Since we have somany females in need of medical spays it once againreminds us why we should have our animals spayedand neutered to avoid a shortened life span or severemedical problems in the future.

Thanks to Julie Riggs for her very professional andartistic display boards for all of our tabling needs. Weprovide her with the pictures and she can turn theminto wonderful displays that attract many folks to ourtable. This quarter we were at Vail Pride Day and the4th Ave Street Fair. Signe, who owns The CoyoteWore Sideburns, provided space for us and severalother animal organizations in front of her shop and wewere able to make many new friends and contacts.Thanks to Signe and Julie for the space and displayboards and to Jacqui, Herb, Audrey, Rachel, Ivan,Cerise, Lisa and Lynne for all your help at theseevents. As time and volunteers allow, we would liketo get to more events since we have had such positivefeedback from those we meet.

And I don’t want to forget all of our regulars who Ihave mentioned in other newsletters who come to helpus on a weekly or monthly basis. We don’t have roomto name everyone every time but we really doappreciate all the hard work Bob, Jim, Cindy,Catherine, John, Francie, Rachel, Jacqui, Herb and somany others do for us, and also the newcomers whohave come once and plan to come back. Also, all thedonated supplies are a big help to us. Whatever isdonated we don’t have to buy and you know that isimportant to us. So keep on coming and keep onbringing the supplies. We love your help.

----Mary

Handi Care Adult ProgramJessie on left with Abbie, Tessa, & Justin

Ironwood at the Fourth Avenue Street Fair

Being overweight can cause a variety of healthproblems. Carrying that extra weight exacerbatesjoint problems such as arthritis and elbow dysplasiaand can cause permanent damagerequiring medication for painmanagement. We have taken inpigs so fat, they could barelystand up! The inability to movearound and exercise furthercontributes to the problem, pluswhen the pig does get moving, ithas severe shortness of breath.An obese pig can also get suchlarge fat folds around its eyes thatit completely covers the eyes andover time will cause the pig to goblind from the eyes’ lack of use.This is called fat blindness and isa serious condition that we have

seen in several pigs coming to Ironwood.

The above problems can be prevented with properdiet. Your pig needs only onemeasuring cup of pig pelletstwice a day. This amount can beadjusted up or down dependingupon how your pig is doing. Youcan supplement meals with a fewveggies or fruit (preferablygreens and low sugar foods) anda little alfalfa hay. Pigs willalways try to fool you intothinking they are still hungry butmanaging your pig’s weight willkeep them happy and healthy!

Don’t let them eat like a pig!


Don’t Let Them Eat Like a Pig!

Veterinarians Needed

We often receive calls from peoplewho are either new pig owners or newto an area asking us for the name of aveterinarian that will treat pot bellied

pigs. If you have a pig or knowsomeone who does, you could help uscompile this list of vets. Please sendus the name of your or your friend’s

vet and the area in which they practice.Please tell us if the vet is willing tomake house calls. Many owners are

not able to take their pigs to the clinicfor treatment. It will help us to

provide advice to the community ofpig owners.

Walter Riley says“I’m Looking Good!”

Suzi is the cute little pig that is resting on thecouch beside Mary on our return envelope prior toher adoption to Darren and Bronwin.


Visit our web site! Click on “news” to view and down load all our

newsletters.

www.ironwoodpigsanctuary.org

Hello everyone. Just a quick update on some of theevents Ironwood Pig Sanctuary has recentlyattended in our community. On February 28, wewere asked to be a part of the 1st Annual Vail PrideDays held at the Pima County Fairgrounds. Weprovided information about pot bellied pigs and ourongoing mission. Thanks so much to Herb and toRachel and Ivan for all their hardwork. Our nextevent was the 4th Ave Street Fair. We were invitedto set up in front of “The Coyote Wore Sideburns”.Thank you Jan Elster, and to Signe who owns “TheCoyote Wore Sideburns”. In the weeks thatfollowed we had visitors, volunteers, adoptors, andsponsors for our wonderful piggies from contactsmade at the fair. And last but not least, we wereable to visit Hollaway Pre-school with Suzi, one ofour fortunate adopted pigs. Darren and Bronwinallowed us to take Suzi for a visit to the classroom.Loving children greeted us and Suzi was in herelement. The class had been reading about all kindsof pigs and was so happy to have Suzi come visit. Iknow I met some animal lovers and futurevolunteers. The girls and boys gave Suzi someyummy healthy treats and lots of belly rubs. Thanksso much to their teacher and my childhood friend,Kathy McGee Upton for having us and for theirgenerous donation to our sanctuary. And also toKeely Kinney for all her help with Suzi and the kids.

I plan to attend more events for the sanctuary in theNW part of Tucson and Marana. We reallyappreciate all our volunteers. Please feel free to callme any time for information about volunteering.My number is 520-326-8257. The pigs give back somuch. We hope to hear from you or see you soon.

—-Jacqui Eckert, Volunteer Coordinator

Ironwood is Represented at Local Events

Suzi and Students at Hollaway Pre-School


Their Garden Attracted Eight Abandoned Pigs

Few people dedicate their life to helping animals. Itis the exceptional person who stands up and withgreat sacrifice helps an innocent animal that theydiscover in need. Loretta and Terry Manners aretwo such people.

One day about a year ago, they discovered two pigstaking advantage of their garden. I’m sure the pigsthought they had died and gone to heaven. Lorettaand Terry did not try to figure out a way to get rid ofthe pigs. Instead they worked to make a pen wherethey would be sheltered and safe and started to takecare of them, not knowing where it might lead. Ashort time later two more pigs showed up in thegarden and were also directed to the new pen. Twoadditional stray pigs were attracted by the garden andwere also rescued by the Manners. Additional pigsarrived until a total of eight pot bellied pigs wererescued by the Manners. They expanded their pen asthe herd grew to accommodate all the arrivals. Anice water hole was provided along with shelter fromcold nights and summer heat. They purchased potbellied pig food and hay. Scraps from their gardenalso went into the new pig pen to the delight of therescued pigs.

After awhile the Manners, on their limited budget,found it increasingly difficult to care for all thesepigs. They called the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary forhelp.

Our initial concern was that there were boars andfemales together in one pen. We all agreed that eightwere enough! We didn’t want more. Weimmediately took the two boars, Duane and Hondie,to Ironwood and had them neutered by Dr. Page. Wealso gave the females hormone shots to ensure thatthere would be no further litters.

We wanted to know where all of these pigs had comefrom. It appeared that someone had abandoned themin the desert. A few months earlier Lynnette Warren,of Pigs*A*Lot, received 15 pigs from a local breeder

that was going out of business. These pigs were invery poor condition. In fact, Kizzy, a pig we featuredin our November 2002 newsletter, was one of thesepigs. The eight pigs that the Manners rescued lookvery similar to the 15 given up by the local breeder.We felt that he had abandoned the eight that the

Manners had rescued. We were unable to find out hisname. It is a felony to abandon an animal in Arizona.

We offered to provide all of the food and hay if theManners would continue to provide their care. Thissounded okay to them, so we returned with food andhay and began the mutual relationship caring for theeight rescued pigs.

Loretta and Terry are both disabled and found itincreasingly difficult to take care of their large brood.Once again they contacted the Ironwood PigSanctuary and asked us to take their pigs. We agreedand once we were able to make space we brought theremaining six females to Ironwood. Latasha,Tallulah, Lisa Marie, Gladys, Tomika and Anita haveall been spayed and Gladys and Tomika have asponsor. All eight are now in the north field divisionof our 6 acre field enjoying their new home. Theyremain friends with each other and share theirshelters at night. Two of the rescued pigs, Latashaand Tallulah, are featured on our cover this month.Thanks to Loretta and Terry Manners, our eight girlsand boys are safe and well.

AaronA.J.

AlfAmosAnitaArnie

ArnoldBaldwin

BellaBanditBernie

BetsyBetty Boop

BlackjackBobbie

BradleyBusterCharlotteChesney

ChorizoChrissyCollieDaisy-Mae

DaleyDanny Ray

DesireeDuane

Dixie Lee

EbbyEdith

Ellie MaeElliotEmilyErnie

FranklinGeneralGeorgia

GloryGracieGretelGypsy

HamiltonHamletHank

HarleyHarrietHondie

I would like to thank all of our sponsors for theirdedication to their monthly contributions and aspecial thank you to those who go above and beyond tohelp. Blossom’s sponsor read about the increasingnumber of pigs at the sanctuary and doubled hermonthly donation to help even more! Taylor is our veryfirst sponsored pig and now his sponsor also sponsorsGandalf and Miss Piggy. Eddie’s sponsor doubled hermonthly contribution to include Eddie’s brother,Flapjack. Inky has a special sponsor who sends carepackages full of medical supplies and miscellaneousitems needed at the sanctuary. After reading aboutClaire’s upcoming surgery, her sponsor sentan extra contribution to help cover hersurgery costs. Lucky has a 5th grade class ofsponsors that send care packages of snacks forher to share with her pig friend, Pinkerton.Several sponsors have been out to visit theirpigs and spend time with them. The list goeson and on. All of you are so important to ourmission here at the sanctuary! I just wanted to thankyou on behalf of all the pigs.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor too, it onlytakes $30 each month to cover your pig’s expenses

including food and health care. For yourmonthly contribution, you will receivebackground information and pictures ofyour pig with updates and new picturesthroughout your sponsorship. Themonthly donations can be set up with yourcredit card or I can send envelopes foreach month’s check. Choose a name from

the list of some of our pigs or send me a description(male, female, young, old, special needs, etc.) andyou too can become a special member of oursponsorship program.

Thank you for making a difference!Donna


Pigs Without Parents!

Iggy

Betsy


IggyInky

JacksonJesseJethro

Jimmy DeanKevin Kris

LatashaLoretta

LouieLouiseLucille

MamacitaMelbaMilton Molly

Mr. PibbMr. Pigg

ObieOtis

Pammie

PearlPete

PetuniaPiggy

Piggy SuePopeyePorky

Precious

ReginaRoger

SamanthaSammy

SassyScout

ShirleyStanleyTallulah

TillieTucker

ValentineWandaWaylon

WilburWill

WinstonZena

AndThere are

ManyMore.......

PPii cckk aa NNaammee ffoorr YYoouurr SSppoonnssoorreedd PPiigg

How would you like to pick a name foryour sponsored pig? Maybe you would liketo remember a favorite aunt, uncle, parent

or mentor.We have a number of pigs without namesbecause they came as a large herd of 57pigs and many look alike so it is hard to

tell them apart.

Let us know your choice of name.

Sponsor One of our Sweet Pigs!

ValentineMilton

Gandalf Donna


ScripDonating Money the Easy

Way!Every time you make a purchase from aneScrip member merchant, the Ironwood PigSanctuary will receive a donation from themerchant up to 5% of your purchase. Themember merchants include restaurants,drugstores, car rental, airlines, hardwarestores, mail order, hotels, motels, specialtyand grocery stores ... and more. Some of themerchants are: Safeway, Wild Oats, OfficeMax, Vons, Chevron, Eddie Bauer, PepBoys, Big 5, American Airlines, andWorking Assets.

Please sign up by visiting www.escrip.comor call us at (520) 575-8469 or write to usfor an enrollment form. Our Group ID is150540842. Everyone can join, so be sureto tell all your family and friends. Thank

you for all of your help!

e

Greater GoodYou can make donations to the IronwoodPig Sanctuary by shopping with yourfavorite web merchants through theGreater Good web site. Just request thatyou want to support the Ironwood PigSanctuary which is a 501(c)(3) publiccharity. Greater Good can be found atwww.greatergood.com/partner/ironwoodpigsanctuary.

Use Your Credit CardYou can make a donation using yourcredit card. Just fill out the returnenvelope for a one time donation or, ifyou like, we can deduct each month foreither your sponsorship of one of oursweet pigs or a sustainer donation.

Ways to Support Your Sanctuary

We accept donationswith the following credit

cards for your convenience.


Meet Our PigsLAVERNE AND SHIRLEY: These two girls cameto us near the end of November. They had beenfound running loose in the desert in Three Points,Arizona. A concerned citizen got them into his yardthen called us for help. He was able to keep them for

a few days until we could make arrangements to pickthem up. Shirley, the smaller of the two, is a littleshy, but she is warming up to being petted. Lavernelikes attention and enjoys belly rubs. They are livingin our newest field addition along with 34 other pigs.Laverne and Shirley are the best of friends and spendtheir days relaxing together in the sun or shade. Theychose the shelter closest to the gate so they can keepup with everything that’s going on.

ABNER: Many times unwanted pigs end up at theHumane Society. We received a call from the H.S. inPhoenix about a male pig that was released to them.We made the drive and came home with Abner, who

was covered with ticks. We picked them all off andtreated him to prevent a recurrence. Abner is ahandsome 8 year old black and white male with blueeyes. He is very talkative, sweet and loves attentionfrom people. He had a difficult time adjusting to lifein the field with so many other pigs, but after awhile, he found a shelter to claim as his and becamecomfortable with eating from the feed trough withthe others. Abner is now content and comfortablewith his new life at Ironwood.

TRAVIS MAGEE: We have one field set aside forspecial needs pigs. Travis Magee is one of thosepigs. He was found wandering in the desert on theeast side of Tucson. A couple took him in butcouldn’t keep him. When he arrived at Ironwood inNovember of 2001, he was very overweight, lameand had large scabs from possible burns on his lowerback. Travis Magee was put on a diet and givenmedication for his lameness. After a month, he wastransferred to the special needs field. He was sonervous around the other pigs that he couldn’t eatunless someone stood next to him to guard him fromthe others. After many months, Travis Magee finallybegan to eat on his own with other pigs around. Heis now off medication and doing well. He has a best

friend, Molly,who shares ashelter withhim. He’llwander aroundthe field, mum-bling andgrumbling tohimself.

Travis Mageeis a sweet oldguy and wouldlove to haveyou come andvisit with him.


Some Letters From our Supporters

From JamieSwenson:

Want to tell youwhat a good jobyou’re doing. I

love those pigs. Iam sure you dotoo. I can’t waituntil someday Ican adopt some

myself. Keep upthe excellent work.

From Terry Sue:

Good people at Ironwood- WishI could send more - and adopt myniece’s namesake, Tammy, butI’m a senior citizen on a limitedbudget, so I’m enclosing $1 cash.I’ve never had a pig - I’m a catperson - but love anyone whohelps animals.

This is Wilbur at His November 23rd BirthdayParty. He is 12 years old.


Homer “Groshong” Loves His PelletStove

Sophie

Swiney Picking Up Donated Apples From Wilcox

Grandma Moses FundGrandma Moses and Priscilla are two examples of elderlypigs where advanced endometritis and tumors resulted intheir death. We have spayed several others: Jo Ann, Misty,Buddy, Wilma Jean, and Claire with happy results.Blossom and Sweet Pea will have had their surgery by thetime you read this. These are all adult female pigs at oursanctuary who were in need of medical spays and whoselives have been saved. Since we have a large number ofolder pigs, we have many more who need to be spayed andwe are also beginning to spay our young females so theywill not develop these problems. We would like to start afund where monies are set aside specially for other olderproblem animals. If you would like to contribute to thisfund please make a note on your check or return envelopeso that we can continue to give our girls a long healthy life.The information from these spays will also be passed on tothe Duchess Fund which is a national organizationcompiling medical information on potbellied pigs foreveryone’s use.


OOOOUUUURRRR WWWWIIIISSSSHHHH LLLLIIIISSSSTTTTPlease let us know if you have anyof the following items to donate:

* Any size Dog Igloo Shelter but extra large and giant preferred.

* All sizes of Wading Pools and Turtle Sand Boxes to be used for water forthe coming summer season.

* Shade Cloth - Black preferred.* Sunscreen for our white pigs. * Water hoses * Two axle Trailer with 6000 # load

capacity needed for hauling water. * Digital Camera* 35mm Film * Well equipped First Aid kit for

volunteers and workers. * Corrugated Roofing * 1/2 inch plywood* Treated & untreated lumber

My name is Bob and I relocated to Tucson in1999. I lived with my family on the East Coastand I took an early retirement to move here dueto my wife’s asthmatic condition. We own a potbelly pig (Soosie) who made the cross countrytrip with us in the back of a well secured andsheltered pick up truck.

While living here I became aware ofPigs*A*Lot sanctuary in the Picture Rocks areaof Tucson. It was there that I adopted Nellie andmet the Ironwood crew Mary, Ben and Donna.

As the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary grew I becamemore and more involved there. I spent manyhours wiring fencing for the 6-acre field as wellas many other jobs including helping tofabricate and install the many plywood shelters.

I continue to volunteer there and do some of thelighter work. Each Monday I pick up food froma wholesale bakery that is kind enough todonate day old products to Ironwood. OnTuesdays I help to fill the kiddy pools and mudwallows for the pigs as well as occasionally dofeeding. There is often a need to drive into thevillage of Marana and fill the sanctuary’s truck,which contains a 350-gallon water tank in thebed. The well at Ironwood is unable to pumpenough water for the pigs in the hotter monthsso the trucked water ensures that there is enoughto keep the pigs healthy and happy.

Another thing that I do from time to time is togo on pig rescues with Ben. I love to travel andwe have been to many different parts ofArizona. We have even been to New Mexico forone rescue. Newly arrived male pigs often needto be neutered and I frequently help others inassisting the vet while she does surgery on asmany as 10-20 pigs in one day.

Volunteering at IronwoodI like volunteering at Ironwood because it givesme an opportunity to care for wonderful animalsthat have become unwanted for differentreasons. Ironwood provides an excellentenvironment with tender care for these pigs. Idon't know what would have become of thesefriendly animals if not for the dedicated missionof Mary, Ben and Donna. Anyone who has sometime to visit the sanctuary would get toexperience this operation first hand. There is avolunteer/visitor center on site. I truly likespending time and sharing ideas with all of theIronwood crew. --- Bob

The Ironwood Pig Sanctuary is dedicated to eliminating the suffering of pot bellied pigs bypromoting spaying and neutering, assisting owners and sanctuaries, and providing a permanent home in asafe nurturing environment for those that are abandoned, abused, neglected, or unwanted.

The Ironwood Pig Sanctuary, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded in Novemberof 2000 in Marana, Arizona, a rural community northwest of Tucson, as a result of the overpopulation of othersanctuaries in Arizona. Our sanctuary consists of 40 acres with 10 being developed exclusively for potbellied pigs and the remaining 30 serving as a buffer or for future growth. Recently released or rescued pigsare housed in one of 24 holding pens in order to give us the opportunity to evaluate new arrivals, treat themfor specific wounds or illnesses and provide the pigs time to acclimate to a different environment and to eachother through the safety of fencing. Over time, the pigs are transferred from their holding pens to a 6 acrefield where they can mingle with the herd yet still have plenty of room to find their own space when wanted.Individual and sharable shelters as well as mud wallows and pools are available in all areas.

Ironwood also places pigs in adoptive homes. All prospective“parents” are screened. We want to be sure that these lovable creatures are a welcome part of the family.

Ironwood has a number of resident pigs that have personality problems, have been abused or are too old tobe adopted. Pigs not adoptable will live out their lives at the sanctuary. You can help them by sponsoringyour favorite resident pig! A contribution of $30 a month pays for all your pig’s expenses. Your sponsorshipgives you all the background information available on your pig, including a photo, and periodic updates.Visit your very own pig as often as you like. They always like company and, of course, those special treatsyou bring.

Ironwood accepts calls to rescue pot bellied pigs found wandering in neighborhoods or in thedesert, those left in community shelters and any who are abused or abandoned by their owners. We alsoreceive pigs from owners who are no longer able to care for them.

The Ironwood Pig Sanctuary has a boarding facility exclusively for pot bellied pigs thatprovides a peaceful setting away from the trauma of barking dogs and other stressful conditions that canoccur at other boarding kennels. Please call for more information about our boarding program.

Even if you can’t adopt or sponsor one of our pigs, you can always come out and help. We alwayshave an extra pooper-scooper or you can help with one of our ongoing projects or just give tummy rubs!

If you would like to help the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary call Donna or Mary for volunteer opportunities or sendin your tax-deductible donation.


I r o n w o o dMISSION

FACILITIES

ADOPTIONS AND SPONSORSHIPS

RESCUES

BOARDING

SUPPORT

The Ironwood Pig Sanctuary is a pot bellied pig rescue, sanctuary and adoptionfacility. We provide a safe home for mistreated, unwanted, or rescued pigs.

IRONWOOD PIG SANCTUARY34656 E. CRYSTAL VISIONS RD.MARANA, AZ 85653(520)631-5851/[email protected]

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happy anniversary ironwood! · 2019-09-06 · ironwood pig sanctuary 34656 e. crystal visions road...

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