MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

Owning a pet mini-pig is a new wave sweeping across the United States and Canada. However, many people underestimate the time and resources required to raise a happy, healthy pig. Therefore, it is important to educate those interested in mini-pig ownership on what is really required to keep a pig as a house pet. According to National Geographic, there are an estimated 200,000 to 1,000,000 pet mini-pigs living in the U.S. and Canada. This is a large, and growing, population of people that will find this document to be useful. The American Mini-Pig Association (AMPA) provides a large wealth of knowledge on mini-pigs. I will use the information available from this high-ethos source (and others) to create a streamlined document of instructions detailing how to adopt and care for a mini-pig, if the reader decides his/her household is prepared for the responsibility. Additionally, I will include personal anecdotes on the upbringing of my own family’s pet pig, Henry. Adding these asides on my own experiences following the rules of properly raising a pig will add to the pathos of my document and help the reader understand that these rules are important to follow. Failure to comply with proper pig-raising techniques may result in a big-boss pig becoming the new master of the household.

WC = 215
Reader’s Profile: I imagine that the reader will be so enthralled with the idea of getting a pet pig that he/she will ignore some of the cons of pig ownership and instead choosing to believe that the pig will be as well-behaved as their golden retriever. Hopefully this document helps the reader truly understand what it takes to raise a pig.

Reader’s Response: I now understand that raising a pet-pig is not the same as raising a dog or a cat. Pigs are so smart that they can remember where you keep their food, study how you open the door to the food, then attempt to replicate the action in order to eat the food - all of the time. A mini-pig is only an appropriate house-pet if I am willing to put in the time and effort into teaching my pig proper manners. Additionally, I will have to piggy-proof my house by removing ALL low hanging wires or else the pig would eat them. I think I’ll talk to my spouse about this and really think about if we are prepared for this commitment instead of just going down to the Southern States to buy a pig from a guy outside of the store. Thanks, author, for all of your helpful anecdotes on raising your own pig!

Southern States! Indeed.

So, the largest indoor problem would be electrical wires and cords? How do you handle this?

Did you see this? Can you chase down some of the science?
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mini-pigs-pets-china_us_560de3cde4b0af3706e0434e

Make sure you note the unethical side of the industry and guide the potential pig parent to seek responsible breeders.

Looking forward to learning more.