Rescue & Adoptions

In Loving Memory

Babe

Babe was named in honor of the film, "Babe," in which longtime Farm Sanctuary supporter and farm animal advocate James Cromwell played the role of Farmer Hoggett. Just as our "Babe" first arrived at our California Shelter from Nevada, James was speaking at a Farm Sanctuary media event to encourage people to save all pigs and go vegetarian --and so the name stuck.

Throughout her lifetime, Babe also did her part to teach people that pigs need protection, by using her intelligence and charm to inspire compassionate change in countless visitors to the farm. Babe was one of the many pigs who ultimately die from complications of genetic alteration and commercial breeding. Most pigs bred for meat on modern-day farms are engineered to gain so much weight, so quickly, that their skeletal systems cannot support the bulk of their bodies. Most pigs are slaughtered once they reach six months of age, or 250 pounds, but when allowed to live longer and grow larger than this (as Babe did), the effects of their unnatural breeding become even more apparent. Several chronic conditions may have contributed to Babe's death.

For much of her time at our California Shelter, we treated abscesses on her hips and legs. We monitored the abscesses closely and flushed them regularly to prevent further infection. Babe also suffered from arthritis and a genetic condition in her spine that caused permanent nerve damage. On January 3, 2004 the effects of this damage to her nerves and spinal cord grew markedly worse. Her rear legs suddenly became paralyzed and she was unable to rise even with help from her caregivers. Babe was clearly uncomfortable, and she seemed unable to cope emotionally with her sudden handicap. Within a few days of the onset of her paralysis, Babe stopped eating and grew so desperate to stand up that she began to injure herself.

Babe was always a spirited and strong-willed girl. She was wholly unwilling and unprepared to accept her life as a paraplegic. Although we did not want to lose Babe, the decision was made to humanely euthanize her. She died peacefully, surrounded by her caregivers and dear friends in the pig barn.