26st pig fed junk food and fizzy drinks rescued from cramped one-bedroom flat
A POT-bellied pig that ballooned to 26 stone has been rescued from a one-bedroom flat.
Portia had lived in the cramped conditions for seven years and been fed junk food and fizzy drinks.
She was recovered from the home in Manchester and has now been nursed back to health.
At 26st (165kg) the sow was three times her healthy weight.
She was put on an animal-friendly diet by staff caring for her at Whitegate Animal Sanctuary in Wirral, Merseyside.
The sanctuary’s Jill Jolly said: “Portia came to us last summer.
“She was living in someone’s flat as a house pig, being fed junk food, biscuits and cola.
“She was utterly depressed — trapped in a flat with just a yard, not even any mud. She’d given up on life.
“We got her just in time and put her a normal pig diet of pig pellets and fruit and vegetables.
“At first she was still huge and struggling to get up. She was in pain and she’d lash out and try to bite.
“But once she could get up and get mobile, the weight fell off her because she was exercising.
“With time, love, care and patience we’ve managed to basically get her back to being a pig.”
The sanctuary — set up five years ago — is home to about 150 pigs, cows, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and turkeys.