ALPINE, Calif. (KGTV) - An animal rescue advocate in Alpine is trying to find "forever" homes for more than 300 pigs.
Rena Salomon rescued the pigs from a woman in Weldon, California, who had lost control of her litter just before Christmas.
"She had started with 60 pigs," Salomon explains. "Before she knew it, the boars made their way underneath the kennels that she had set up, and they met the girls, and from there, we had a bunch of litters on the ground."
That woman, Tyra Tabor, reached out to Salomon for help. Over a few days, Salomon's non-profit, "Angel in a Hummer/HEART Foundation," had relocated all of the pigs to the Stoney Oaks Ranch near Alpine.
"It's a very large undertaking," Salomon says. "I feel like I'm climbing up a mountain with concrete being poured down it."
The pigs come from different breeds. Many are potbellied pigs or guinea pigs. None are for livestock purposes.
The pigs do have some medical issues that need to be addressed. Nearly all of the female pigs are pregnant, others need surgeries, and all of them will have to get spayed or neutered.
Meanwhile, Salomon says they're using about 5 or 6 bags of feed every day, plus other fruits and vegetables to care for the animals.
She's hoping people step up to adopt them.
"We need qualified adoptees who can handle a female pig that's getting ready to give birth," says Solomon. "I'm vetting everybody to make sure that these pigs find a safe place to land, and they're going to have a family to love them."
Salomon has a websiteset up for people to apply to adopt a pig. She also created a GoFundMe page to help defray some of the costs of medical care and food.
She hopes all of the pigs find good, loving homes.
"Within 24 hours, (you can) rub their bellies and scratch their ears and just love on them. They're adapting and acclimating really well to their new families. They're quite a joy!"
