The Pig Issue at Clipstone Park
This little piggy didn’t go to the market; nope, he decided to become the first resident of Clipstone park.
Boris, the abandoned pig, had initially been spotted roaming around an adjacent site owned by another contractor in early May.
As the site broadened, he wandered further afield and found himself at the ECL Clipstone 335 site compound.
Anthony Shevlin, Patrick Tumulty and Martin Tebbs had to do a double take when they first spotted the pig, looking somewhat malnourished and very much on the small side.
The guys took it upon themselves to care for the pig whilst on site and named him Boris (Because of his uncanny resemblance to Boris Johnson).
At first, they left Boris food on the ground, where he’d pop by at meal times each day to chomp what was there and then disappear back into the verge until it was time for another feed.
As the weeks passed, Boris began to look far healthier and happier. He had gained significant weight and had formed a genuine bond with the team.
It wasn’t long until Boris became an integral part of the ECL team. The guys had started to feed him by hand, and Boris relished the nosh and attention, regularly showing his appreciation with a wag of his tail and a friendly snort.
Naturally, everyone was baffled about how Boris had ended up on site. So the guys did a little digging 🙂 and after some research, they came to the conclusion that Boris was formerly someone’s pet. He didn’t have a tag, so that ruled out him being owned by one of the neighbouring farmers.
The guys had formed an attachment to Boris, but they realised he needed the care and attention he was once used to, so they contacted the RSPCA to see if they could assist. Surprisingly the RSPCA didn’t provide any help, but as luck would have it, after some searching online, Martin Tebbs discovered the ‘Curly Tails’ pig sanctuary in Milton Keynes and gave them a call.
Curly Tails Sanctuary was simply amazing. They were delighted to provide Boris with a safe and loving home and if needed, could help rehabilitate him socially, emotionally and physically.
In order to relocate Boris to the sanctuary, Curly Tails asked Martin to create a pen to house Boris so they could safely load him onto their trailer.
With the use of on-site recycled material, the Clipstone lads constructed a makeshift pen and gently climatised Boris into the pen, making it the go-to spot for mealtimes.
After a couple of weeks, Boris was happy as a pig in a pen, and the guys were able to secure him inside, without causing any stress to the piggy, in preparation for the arrival of Curly Tails.
On the 31st of October, Curly Tails arrived at the compound, loaded Boris onto their trailer and transported the much-loved piggy off to his forever home.
The Clipstone site wasn’t quite the same without their resident pig. Boris had become an important part of the team, his presence boosted team morale, and he has been hugely missed.
That said, everyone in the team are happy with the knowledge that he is in a much better place and is being well looked after.
Boris may be gone physically, but his presents remains on site as the background photo on the Site iPad.
Jane from Curly Tails Sanctuary sent a letter to Martin and the team saying,
“Boris is doing really well, obviously finding it strange to be contained, but he’s eating (plenty) and drinking, and he slept in his house last night, which is great.
He’s next to our big boys Arthur, Archie and Jack, which is hilarious as he’s so small compared to them, but he’s met them through the fence and has also realised that he’s a full-bloodied boy and is flirting outrageously with Rosie and Ginge who are across the path from him.
Your kindness and affection for him are just heart-warming.
He will always be cared for here, safe, happy and very much loved by me and the whole volunteer team.
Our vet is booked for Wednesday to castrate him, remove surface parasites, worms and vaccinate him. Once recovered and settled, we’ll try to buddy him with Teddy, one of our other recent rescues.
Take care, and thank you for having the biggest heart.”
