Pig Paradise

Last week, we met the Owasso woman who found two pigs running wild through her neighborhood. At the time she said there didn't seem to be anybody around who took care of stray pigs. Naturally, we

Tuesday, August 1st 2006, 2:16 pm

By: News On 6

Last week, we met the Owasso woman who found two pigs running wild through her neighborhood. At the time she said there didn't seem to be anybody around who took care of stray pigs. Naturally, we found one.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg takes us on a tour of pig paradise in this follow up story.

At the Hamalot Farm in Sand Springs, Tracy McDaniel has big pigs and itty-bitty pigs. Pigs indoors and pigs outdoors. Pigs aplenty. But how and why? "How, it started 9 years ago. I won a pig in a raffle at Wal-Mart." And it was love at first swine. â€œSo I then asked my husband if he was willing to move and start a rescue, because God was speaking to us and we needed to do something about this."

The McDaniels re-arranged their whole lives to accommodate the pigs. Pretty amazing when you consider that Tracy had never before been near a farm. "No, city girl, hate the country, don't like being out here in the dirt, but love these pigs." Again we asked why? Tracy says they're intelligent. "Pigs reason, and they solve problems. They learn to open cupboards, they learn to open refrigerators."

So if pigs are so smart, then there's really just one question, how come they hang out in the mud all day. Well, as it turns out, there's a legitimate reason for that. "Pigs don't sweat. They have no sweat glands, and so they get in the mud to use as a sunscreen, and as an insect repellent."

But Tracy is drawn to them. She says people started hearing about her sanctuary about two years ago, just by word of mouth. "And the phone calls started, and so far we've placed 37 pigs and there are 38 that live here now."

However, pig-petting proves problematic. Pot-bellied pigs don't make a very good food-source, so Tracy says people have tried to get Tulsa to allow them as pets. So far though, nothing doing. So if you want to adopt one, you have to live outside the city.

To find out more about Hamalot Farms, check out their website.