THE PROVINCE
Latest News

Imagine living with 22 pigs
PIG SANCTUARY: Hearts on Noses takes in abandoned pot-bellied pets

Peter Clough
The Province

Sunday, November 20, 2005

CREDIT: Ric Ernst, The Province
Janice Gillett rescues neglected and abandoned pot-bellied pigs and provides a sanctuary for them at her Maple Ridge home.

More Columns By This Writer
:: Wedding bells from hell subscriber only content
:: The house that Hon built subscriber only content
:: Here comes the spider man subscriber only content
:: Canadian arm-wrestling coach passes on a few tips subscriber only content

Three years ago, he was one cute Vietnamese pot-bellied piglet who lived with his owners in their Beach Avenue apartment and liked to go out.

Halter-trained and sporting a bow around his neck, Casanova was once a guaranteed head-turner and conversation-starter at Kits Beach.

Today he's a whole lot fatter -- and probably a whole lot happier -- living out his days at Janice Gillett's Hearts on Noses pig sanctuary in Maple Ridge.

As the operator of B.C.'s only pig rescue society, Janice gave Casanova a permanent home when the couple's landlord finally got on their case.

She's glad he did.

"I tried to tell the young couple when they first contacted me: 'You've got a pig now, you're going to have to move,'" says Janice. "Two weeks later they were calling me and the woman was sobbing."

Janice shares her home with 22 exotic porkers, most of them bought as pets. She's the person pig-lovers call when reality sets in.

"People are looking for a pig that will jump up on the couch and put their head on their lap," she laments.

The interview comes to a brief halt while Janice has words with Barney, who has trotted down the hall, gone into the master bedroom and closed the door.

It's become compulsive behaviour.

"There's nothing I can do," she says. "He goes into my bedroom and shuts the door and I go and kick his ass out of there. Listen to him. He's such a baby."

About half of Janice's pigs have come via the SPCA.

One of her favourites is Rocket, rescued from what she calls a junkyard-pig situation. She says it took two-and-a-half years to build up enough trust for Rocket to be touched without squealing up a fit.

"One day out in the barn she was with me by herself and I got down on my knees eye-to-eye and I said to her: 'When are you going to let me touch you?'" says Janice. "I said: 'You could touch me. You could touch your nose to mom's nose. You could do it -- nose to nose.' You know something? She did it."

Yes, it's a passion. But Janice points out that her sanctuary has become too much work for one person. She's looking for volunteers.

So if you're a pig-lover with time on your hands, check out her website: www.heartsonnoses.com.

Interview with Janice Gillett.
© The Vancouver Province 2005