Nearly all animals raised for food in the United States are confined to factory farms. The heartbreaking truth is that, in the course of their drastically shortened lives, the day they are trucked to slaughter may be the only chance they get to feel sunshine or catch a glimpse of the sky. 

On crowded transport trucks, animals are denied food and water, sometimes as they’re driven across long distances through harsh heat or cold. Some will not even survive the journey to slaughter, dying along the way. In its 2022 investigation, the Guardian found that more than 20 million farm animals die during transport to U.S. slaughterhouses each year – including 330,000 pigs.

Dory’s injuries and where she was found suggest that she, too, fell from a transport truck. Unlike most animals who experience this frightening fall, for Dory, that accident ultimately saved her life.

Thankfully, our friends at Lollypop Farm, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester, and other local rescuers arrived, brought Dory to safety, and offered the initial care she needed.

The team at Lollypop Farm knew that Dory still needed a new home. When they reached out to Farm Sanctuary, our rescue and placement team picked up Dory and brought her to our Watkins Glen sanctuary in August. 

We continued to help Dory recover and offered enrichment, healthy food, and care in the weeks she spent with us. As this fun-loving pig’s personality emerged, she loved to spend her time happily rolling in the mud!

“The thought that so many others like Dory are suffering in the world is very daunting, to say the least,” says Mario, “but Dory’s rescue and the many other cases we have had over the years give me hope that their stories will continue to bring awareness.”

Like Mario, all of us who got to meet and care for Dory at Farm Sanctuary quickly came to love her and enjoy her sweet personality.

Yet, we also knew we had found her the perfect forever home. In October, we brought her to a trusted Farm Animal Adoption Network (FAAN) partner, who had just built a beautiful new shelter for a rescued pig.

Now named Honeydew, this sweet pig is adored by all who meet her, and she is living life to the fullest in Oklahoma. She lives with Rhubarb and Pistachio pigs, whom Farm Sanctuary rescued and placed in this loving adoptive home, too!