16 Oct AN OPEN LETTER TO BETTE
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, October 26th…our next Volunteer Day. Pre-registration is required & space is limited. Learn more and sign up here.
Sunday, November 2nd…our next tour. Currently only a few spaces are left. Pre-registration is required. Sign up here.
Saturday December 13th…our annual Winter Extravaganza. Save the date!! Details to come.
“‘THANK YOU’ is the best prayer anyone can say”- Alice Walker
Chenoa Manor wishes to express gratitude & thanks to:
Dr. Fecteau & her team of veterinarians, students and nursing staff. Enough cannot be said for the care and medical attention that Bette received during her week long stay at New Bolton Center.
Dr. Curtis Beidel. With his unpretentious mid-Western nature, he was instrumental in assisting Bette during her travel to New Bolton Center, and helped make a potentially fearful situation a very calm one.
Jane Murphy Donze & her son, Owen. They answered a Facebook plea for a trailer and blindly jumped into what turned into a most magnificent adventure. Without their selflessness, Bette would have faced a much tougher recovery.
ESTHER the Wonder Pig & her Dads. With their help in spreading the word about Bette, we received a huge outpouring of support.
You. To all the friends around the world we have not met (yet), who have sent love, healing energy and donations, we are so grateful.
WHAT WE’RE BUZZING ABOUT
New Bolton Center. With their exceptional staff and amazing care, Bette is on her way to a full recovery.
Esther’s Army. Raising funds to create a sanctuary for Esther and other farm animals in Ontario, Canada, Steve and Derek are recruiting an army of love.
IF I COULD TALK TO THE ANIMALS
Dear Bette- so many people say “it’s a shame animals can’t talk” or some other such nonsense…these people more often than not, have very little experience actually being with animals, sharing in their company, enjoying moments of solitude with them. It’s in these moments that the animals are speaking the loudest. What’s truly a shame is that humans can’t listen. Or worse, they do not know how to listen. If they were listening, they would hear the example that you are setting.
You were shot. Twice. It must have hurt terribly. Yet in that moment when you came to me with an arrow protruding out of one side and abdominal contents hanging out of the other, you greeted me with a series of excited staccato grunts like you always do. And then you asked for a mud bath and a belly rub, in that order. You weren’t complaining about what happened to you, or oinking obscenities at the malicious perpetrator.
Then you endured hours of anesthesia, a CT scan, and subsequent surgery. The odds were against you, but you pulled through. Although you received exceptional care and you had countless visitors checking in with you, you healed yourself…with your will, your determination, and your drive. Although you received prayers from around the country by tens of thousands of friends you’ve never met, it was you not giving up that made the difference. And you recovered, with your quiet grace & dignity leading you, showing everyone whom you encountered that charming pigs with attitude do not simply live in children’s books; they live among us.
When you finally returned to the manor, you greeted the space & your peers with those same upbeat staccato grunts; you asked for your mud bath, and your belly rub. You never showed fear, or contempt, and you certainly are not holding a grudge. How much we could learn from you, if only we humans stopped to listen, and realize that perhaps the reason we have two ears and one mouth is to listen more and speak less.
You are an inspiration and an example of how to live from day to day, mud baths and all. And on behalf of and for my species, i deeply and most humbly apologize.