Chemainus rescue overwhelmed with abandoned potbellied pigs

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WATCH: A Chemainus woman who has made it her life’s work to rescue unwanted and abused barnyard animals is pleading for people to stop buying the “it” pet of the moment, the micro mini pig. Lucie Cerny’s Rasta Rescue is already bursting with potbellies that nobody else will take. Skye Ryan reports. 

Potbelly pigs lay around every corner of Lucie Cerny’s Chemainus Sanctuary and one three-legged pig is even outfitted with a piggy prosthetic. Her love of animals is legendary among her volunteers. 
 
 “Yeah it’s pretty amazing,” volunteer Martha Clarke said.  “She’s the hardest-working person I know. I don’t really know how she does it every day.”
  
The Rasta Rescue specializes in saving barnyard animals, from llamas to goats and geese that would be dead if they didn’t take them in. Yet it’s now at capacity, as this kind-hearted woman grows exhausted with all the pigs pouring in. 
 
 “Our phone would literally be ringing off the hook with people wanting to dump their former pet pigs,” Cerny said. 
 
 All because of the “it” pet she said unscrupulous breeders are making small fortunes on.  Cerny said breeders advertise micro mini pigs that start out tiny when they’re purchased, then turn hulking300-poundd swine when they’re full grown.
 
“They’re not purse pets,” Cerny said. “They’re not condo or apartment pets. We’ve had people that surrendered pigs that lived in condos. We’ve had pigs that lived in aquariums. “
 
 So this rescuer, whose sanctuary has no more room is appealing for people to stop buying them and abandoning them.
 
 “Especially lately we’ve just really seen it explode,” Cerny said. 
 
  With 60 animals and counting to feed already eating up the donations that are these animals only chance at a happy ending.
  
Skye RyanSkye Ryan

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