FALLS, Pa. — Once a farm animal is rescued and sent to the Indraloka Animal Sanctuary near Falls in Wyoming County, there is still a lot of work to be done to make sure that animal has what it needs to live a happy and healthy life. Some of that work involves play.
There's no question that Dory is a piglet who loves attention from her human counterparts at Indraloka.
Workers were not sure about how Dory and her brother Dunky were going to get along with the other pigs on the farm when they got there.
"The pigs take a little bit longer to figure out who's in charge and to figure out where they're most comfortable and who their best friend is going to be. And sometimes that happens instantaneously, so again, just like people, it can happen overnight, or it can take weeks and weeks and weeks," said Sarah Thornton, Indraloka's director of education.
Dunky and Dory are the youngest, but another pair of piglets, Sequa and Ruby, are about three months older. The first step was integrating all the piglets together.
"They love humans. I think, if you look closely, it always looks like they have a big old smile on their faces."
And it helps if we're there to facilitate the process.
"They're pretty comfortable getting to know each other, play with each other, but they're each very bonded. So then, once the four of them are really a quad, a quad pairing, then they will move in with the big pigs. And they're already meeting the biggest guys one at a time right now."
In some cases, the large pigs can outweigh them by more than 1,000 pounds.
"It's a delight to watch them interact together. And to think they were small enough they could fit in my hands when they first got here. And now they're much, much bigger," said Robin Olson, Indraloka's director of development.
Thorton has been working at Indraloka for ten years and says it's animals like these that consistently bring her happiness at work.
"They are incredible, joyful beings. They're beautiful teachers for all of us."
If you want to experience this joy for yourself, you can do so through tours, summer camps, and programs like Dory's Stories.
"Sit with the animals and listen to storytime. So, we'll read books, or we may tell the animal stories. And they can also come, and you can choose to just read and hang out with them," Thornton said.
"At the heart of everything we do is kindness and compassion," Thornton added. "When you come and you spend time with a rescued farm animal, you have the opportunity to connect, to get to know them with no barriers."
See more pets and animal stories on WNEP’s YouTube playlist.