Special By By Lynn Curwin Sep 10, 2010 in World Watkins Glen - Although it probably didn’t seem like it at the time, falling off of the back of a transport truck was one of the best things to happen to a six-week-old piglet this summer. Lanore Hahn was travelling with her boyfriend, whose band had been on tour, when she spotted the piglet running around a backcountry highway in South Dakota. They stopped and caught her, and then tried to find out where she came from – while she fell soundly asleep. There were no pig facilities in the area and no one from the farms along the highway knew where the animal would have come from. Lanore contacted animal control and an officer, after looking at the piglet, who had sunburn and road rash, said that she must have fallen from a truck. The officer informed Lanore that if she handed the animal over to authorities it would probably be shot. Lanore took the animal home with her to Wisconsin, fed her, treated her wounds, and gave her lots of attention. She also named her Kim Gordon, in honour of the Sonic Youth vocalist and bass player. Knowing she couldn’t keep the piglet permanently, she then called Farm Sanctuary. Kim Gordon Farm Sanctuary “She arrived with pneumonia, some superficial wounds and a host of internal parasites,” said Susie Coston, National Shelter Director Farm Sanctuary. “She received treatment for her wounds before arriving from her wonderful rescuers.” She reported that Kim is now doing “fantastic” and enjoying life with the other pigs at the shelter in Watkins Glen, New York. If she had not fallen from the truck, Kim’s life would have been a short one. “Kim was likely, based on her age, going from a farrowing facility to a nursery barn, where she would be put on solid foods and then in around eight weeks would go to a finisher barn, where she would be fattened up for slaughter at just six months,” said Coston. “By the first week of 2011, Kim would have been slaughtered. “It is so hard to imagine this, once you know her, that anyone could kill her. She is very talkative, loves people so much. Her nickname is Didgeridoo, because she sounds like one when she talks. Each of the pigs I have met over the past 17 years are all so very different from each other. They all have personalities, quirks, habits just like people. Kim is a very special pig- but they really all are once you meet them one on one.” Kim’s future involves living out her life with a new best friend – another piglet who fell from a truck – and being an ambassador for factory farm pigs who suffer in hot, overcrowded transport trucks. Kim Gordon Farm Sanctuary Farm Sanctuary has taken in six piglets which fell from trucks during the past four years. “This happens more often than people realize,” said Coston. “ We have other species that it happens to even more often. Chickens, turkeys, and ducks also fall out of transport trucks- some live and we have some here. We took in three ducks last year who fell out of a transport in NYC- going to the live markets. We have many chickens here who have too.” “Pigs are amazing, highly intelligent, social beings who are being raised in one of the cruelest industries,” added Coston. “I always want people to come to the farm to see them the way they were meant to be and how they are when they are treated with kindness and not cruelty. They are incredible animals who love and enjoy life. Farm Sanctuary incorporated in 1986 and works to expose and stop cruel practices of the food animal industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, education, public awareness, and rescue and refuge. The fall changed the entire course of the young animal’s life and, instead of ending up in a slaughter house, she ended up at a sanctuary.Lanore Hahn was travelling with her boyfriend, whose band had been on tour, when she spotted the piglet running around a backcountry highway in South Dakota. They stopped and caught her, and then tried to find out where she came from – while she fell soundly asleep.There were no pig facilities in the area and no one from the farms along the highway knew where the animal would have come from.Lanore contacted animal control and an officer, after looking at the piglet, who had sunburn and road rash, said that she must have fallen from a truck. The officer informed Lanore that if she handed the animal over to authorities it would probably be shot.Lanore took the animal home with her to Wisconsin, fed her, treated her wounds, and gave her lots of attention. She also named her Kim Gordon, in honour of the Sonic Youth vocalist and bass player. Knowing she couldn’t keep the piglet permanently, she then called Farm Sanctuary.“She arrived with pneumonia, some superficial wounds and a host of internal parasites,” said Susie Coston, National Shelter Director Farm Sanctuary. “She received treatment for her wounds before arriving from her wonderful rescuers.”She reported that Kim is now doing “fantastic” and enjoying life with the other pigs at the shelter in Watkins Glen, New York.If she had not fallen from the truck, Kim’s life would have been a short one.“Kim was likely, based on her age, going from a farrowing facility to a nursery barn, where she would be put on solid foods and then in around eight weeks would go to a finisher barn, where she would be fattened up for slaughter at just six months,” said Coston. “By the first week of 2011, Kim would have been slaughtered.“It is so hard to imagine this, once you know her, that anyone could kill her. She is very talkative, loves people so much. Her nickname is Didgeridoo, because she sounds like one when she talks. Each of the pigs I have met over the past 17 years are all so very different from each other. They all have personalities, quirks, habits just like people. Kim is a very special pig- but they really all are once you meet them one on one.”Kim’s future involves living out her life with a new best friend – another piglet who fell from a truck – and being an ambassador for factory farm pigs who suffer in hot, overcrowded transport trucks.Farm Sanctuary has taken in six piglets which fell from trucks during the past four years.“This happens more often than people realize,” said Coston. “ We have other species that it happens to even more often. Chickens, turkeys, and ducks also fall out of transport trucks- some live and we have some here. We took in three ducks last year who fell out of a transport in NYC- going to the live markets. We have many chickens here who have too.” Farm Sanctuary is currently caring for more than 1,000 animals at its shelters in Watkins Glen, New York and Orland, California. Some animals are adopted out, especially when large rescues take place.“Pigs are amazing, highly intelligent, social beings who are being raised in one of the cruelest industries,” added Coston. “I always want people to come to the farm to see them the way they were meant to be and how they are when they are treated with kindness and not cruelty. They are incredible animals who love and enjoy life.Farm Sanctuary incorporated in 1986 and works to expose and stop cruel practices of the food animal industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, education, public awareness, and rescue and refuge. More about Pig, Piglet, Rescue, Farm, Sanctuary More news from pig piglet rescue farm sanctuary