Ann Zaniewski

Detroit Free Press

Love — or at least a strong friendship — is blossoming between two rescued potbellied pigs who had a rough start in life.

The pair have spent the last few days dining together, walking together and sleeping near each other in the same hut at SASHA Farm, an animal sanctuary in Manchester, Mich.

Investigators with the Humane Society of Huron Valley rescued the male pig Feb. 7 from his home underneath a vacant trailer in Manchester Township.

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The 8-year-old, 182-pound pig was in bad shape: He was covered in insulation from the trailer, and his tusks were so overgrown that they had pierced his lip and caused mouth sores. He looked a sickly shade of yellow and had watery eyes, investigator Naomi Smith said.

Humane Society staff cleaned him up, trimming his hooves and tusks. They hand-fed him a special diet.

The pig's owner said he could no longer care for the animal and surrendered him to the Humane Society.

About one week later, on Wednesday (notably the day after Valentine's Day), workers brought the pig to SASHA Farm, a nonprofit sanctuary that houses more than 200 rescued animals. There, he met Eve, a 3-year-old, 200-pound potbellied pig who had trouble making friends with the farm's other pigs.

It was love at first sight.

Eve instantly took to her new friend, following him around the yard.

The pig was given a perfect new name: Adam.

“We’d been looking for a friend for Eve,” Mitch Goldsmith, an employee of SASHA Farm, said. “They all have their own personalities, and she was too submissive and didn’t get along with our other group of pot-bellies.”

Eve was rescued late last year and had a little trouble adjusting to the farm at first. But she seems happier now that Adam is around, said Marilyn Royle, a volunteer office assistant there.

"I can see them from the window of the office," Royle said. "They’re definitely happy together. It makes me smile."

Despite their bond, there'll be no piggy hanky-panky: Adam is castrated.

Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.