Animal Sanctuary Reunites Rescued Newborn Piglet With His Heartbroken Mother

When a worker at The Shore Sanctuary in San Diego rescued a tiny newborn piglet, she realized she had to act fast to ensure this little one could survive. All the while, the piglet, whom she named Anakin, was screaming for his mother.

Not long after Anakin’s arrival, Shore was contacted by another rescue group about a mama pig on a breeding farm who had lost all her babies. It turned out she was Anakin’s mother. After they were able to negotiate her surrender, the pig, named Mama Shmi, was still heartbroken over the loss of her babies.

I was able to connect the dots and figure out that that was Anakin’s mother. And it hit me very strongly. It was very emotional for me to think that we have Anakin, her sole surviving baby here in sanctuary and that mama was stuck in this horrible situation without any help. So at that point, we started working really hard to negotiate her release …We were able to finally get her released and surrendered to us.

The meeting took place under very controlled circumstances, but ultimately, mother and son recognized each other.

I placed him into a kennel because he needed to stay warm. So, I had heating sources in there and I also wasn’t sure if she was going to be receptive of him. And it was very clear immediately that she knew that was her baby. And she started making very active pig sounds that people that know pigs know what it means. So, she was hot panting and she was grunting and she was trying to open that kennel door.

Since that day, the pair has been completely inseparable, although Mama Schmi did need surgery for her bad back.