A piglet was rescued by witnesses after falling from a moving truck onto a busy highway in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Lars Gradel, his work partner Rebecca Zajac, and her seven-year-old son, Colton, were driving west on Interstate 215 on May 25 when they saw a truck carrying pigs pass them. Moments later, they watched a piglet tumble out of the vehicle.
Gradel said the little pig rolled several times down the side of the freeway.
The group immediately stopped to help. When the piglet stood up, Zajac urged everyone to grab him before he wandered into traffic.
They wrapped him in a towel and placed him inside their car. The frightened animal appeared to be in shock, but surprisingly, he showed no obvious physical injuries despite the dangerous fall.
The rescuers took the piglet to a veterinarian, where they learned he was approximately eight to twelve weeks old and had recently been separated from his mother.
They named him Lucky. He spent the weekend in the Zajac family’s backyard while they searched for a safe place for him. Eventually, they contacted All Friends Animal Sanctuary, which agreed to take him in.
Tara Pike, the sanctuary’s founder, said Lucky would initially stay in a secure, coyote-proof quarantine area because of his small size. He was expected to remain there for around five months before moving into a larger enclosure.
Lucky weighed only 18 pounds at the time, but Pike explained that he could eventually grow to between 700 and 800 pounds, similar to another sanctuary resident named Mister Picklesworth.
According to Pike, Lucky might otherwise have been sent to a fattening facility before being slaughtered at around six to eight months old.
Instead, he now has the chance to enjoy sanctuary life, exploring the ground, digging in the soil, rolling in mud, and eating treats such as watermelon and summer popsicles.
All Friends Animal Sanctuary cares for many rescued animals, including pigs, cows, and goats. Providing food, shelter, and veterinary care for them requires considerable resources.
Thanks to the people who stopped on the highway and the sanctuary that welcomed him, Lucky now has a safe place to grow. What began as a frightening accident has given this little piglet the chance to enjoy a very different future.
