Out of the crate and into the public eye

ROBERT KITCHIN/ The Dominion Post

PRETTY, PRETTY PIGGY-SUE: Carolyn Press-McKenzie and Piggy-Sue who is sitting pretty after life in a stall.

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A fortnight ago, Piggy-Sue was living in a sow stall in a barn housing thousands of other pigs.

Now she's a pig in muck after being sprung from the Reid piggery in Carterton by Carolyn Press-McKenzie, an Upper Hutt veterinary surgeon, animal trainer and animal sanctuary owner.

Piggy-Sue was "rescued" during an undercover operation for TVNZ's Sunday programme which uncovered disturbing images of pig farming.

The change in Piggy-Sue since had been "huge", Mrs Press-McKenzie said.

Despite being barely able to walk when she arrived, the pig has discovered rain for the first time after a life indoors. When the heavens open, she dashes outside. "At first she couldn't really walk particularly well. Now she does little gallops and frisky jumps," Mrs Press-McKenzie said.

After years in a cage, she still bears scars from the pressure sores left by the crate bars. But Mrs Press-McKenzie said the five-year-old was gaining confidence and was much more alert. "She's showing an interest in everything. She saw a dog for the first time and she didn't back away, she was excited about it."

Piggy-Sue's reactions to her new home, at Pakuratahi Farm Animal Sanctuary in Kaitoke, show how cruel it is to farm pigs in cages, she said. "She emotionally switched herself off in that cage. You take them out of that situation and you have an intelligent, vital being."

Mrs Press-McKenzie offered to buy Piggy-Sue as a front for the documentary team to gain access to the farm. She wore a microphone, and with a Sunday producer and camerman secretly recorded video and audio footage. "I was proud to be part of that," she said.

Piggy-Sue was bought for $600, paid for by the Sunday programme.

- © Fairfax NZ News