In a video that was taken shortly after his rescue, Marty’s tail is wagging. This is a common sight when near Marty: he cannot hide his happiness.
Dogs are often known for their wagging tails, but it’s not a feature unique to them. Pigs also express their emotions through their tails. And for them, a wag is just like that of a happy puppy.
It came as a surprise to the sanctuary that he’d be beaming with such feelings given that before calling Rosie’s Farm Sanctuary his home, he came from horrific abuse.
How He Got There
Marty came to the Sanctuary because a kind woman noticed what was happening to him and decided she couldn’t walk past it. She contacted a sanctuary in his state, reported the abuse, and intervened to get him out. Without her, Marty’s story would have ended differently.
Instead, his story continues – at a sanctuary where he has a best friend, a routine, strong opinions and a growing reputation for greeting visitors at the gate and expecting to be admired.
What The Tail Wag Said
Michele Waldman, founder of Rosie’s Farm Sanctuary, noted that Marty is smart enough to discern between safety and danger. Despite the abuse he endured, he sensed that compassion surrounded him at his new home. He didn’t allow what happened beforehand to define his future.
Marty was ready to accept his new life and appreciate it.
Who Marty Is
He is playful, trusting and affectionate. He knows his people and knows exactly how to extract extra treats.
Marty, though small, was actually quite chunky. Much to his displeasure, he was advised to be on a diet to lose weight. He wasn’t afraid to let his disappointment be known.
Pigs are very expressive. They have their interests and dislikes, and the intelligence to convey those feelings. It’s often not known that pigs have an incredible capacity to be brainiacs. They typically don’t get the chance to show off their abilities.
Marty is incredibly smart. He recognises peers, makes choices, has quirks and favourite people. His best friend is a turkey named Gloria. They spend every day together without fail.
To his understanding, he owns the sanctuary. Marty meets visitors at the gate, snorts, and waits for food and affection. He is a silly little boy, the sanctuary says, and they mean it with complete sincerity and total admiration.
The Line Marty Blurs
The sanctuary believes that Marty does something important beyond being wonderful, which is that he makes visible something most people have never had to examine: the line between companions and farmed animals.
That line is not drawn based on intelligence. It is not drawn from emotional complexity, the capacity for preference, the ability to form bonds, or the desire for safety and company. Marty has all of those things in abundance, and he is a pig, and most pigs spend their lives in systems that treat those qualities as entirely irrelevant.
Michele claims that the line is cultural. It is maintained by distance, convention and the commercial infrastructure of an industry that benefits from people not meeting animals like Marty and questioning the inconsistency.
Marty is asking it every day, at the gate, snorting at visitors, wagging his tail, demanding to be loved. Michele insists he is not an exception, but an example. The difference between him and the pigs who will never get to show any of this is not intelligence, or feeling, or the capacity for joy. It is luck.
His past does not prevent his happiness now. However, his present does not erase his past. The abuse was real. The rescue was necessary. The system that produced the circumstances he came from is still producing them, for animals who are everything Marty is and get none of what Marty now has.
Marty lives at Rosie’s Farm Sanctuary alongside his best friend Gloria and many others.
To follow his story and support the sanctuary’s work, visit here.
Watch our video on Marty here:
