A sow with piglets in a rural outdoor setting during late autumn or early spring. 2:56
Viva! The Vegan Charity channel icon Viva! The Vegan CharityOriginal creator 2M views Save

First day outside for a rescued pig family

Hope Apple Blossom is a mother pig, rescued from a factory farm along with her six piglets. Until today, none of them had ever been outside. more

They were taken in by Viva! and Dean Farm Animal Sanctuary, a British group that gives rescued farm animals a home. The day starts in the barn, where three of the piglets lie in the straw against a brick wall.

Three small pigs lie on straw bedding inside a barn with a brick wall behind them. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Three of the piglets rest in the straw before their first time outside.

This is their first day out, and it is very windy, with rain about to start. Gray skies and wind are normal weather for Wales, and none of it stops them. The family comes straight out and starts exploring everything. When Hope Apple Blossom calls, the piglets run straight back to her, then out they go again.

After a while their mother heads back inside, but the piglets are all up for more play outside. In dim light, a woman sits holding one of the little ones while another pig walks past.

A woman with curly hair sits holding a small piglet while another pig walks nearby in dim light. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A woman holds one of the piglets while another pig walks past.

"This is the moment we've been waiting for," says Juliet Gellatley, who founded the sanctuary. "Little piglets and mama are outside." Of Hope Apple Blossom, she says, "She's such a good mum."

"They're running around having a jolly good time," Gellatley adds. "This is just my dream come true."

A woman with curly hair sits outdoors by a wooden fence, wearing a pink jacket and a patterned scarf. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
For the people who rescued the family, this first day outside is the moment they waited for.

The piglets tear all over the place and meet some of the other farm animals along the way. Plenty of people say they have never seen pigs run like that.

Later, even their mother breaks into a run. "Oh, look at her," someone says. "She's having such fun."

A sow with piglets in a rural outdoor setting during late autumn or early spring. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Hope Apple Blossom is a mother pig, rescued from a factory farm along with her six piglets.

Between the sprints, they stop to root through the grass and dirt, grunting as they go. It's the most ordinary pig thing in the world, and this family is doing it for the first time.

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