ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A slaughterhouse-bound piglet's fate took a sharp turn when the young animal tumbled off a truck and onto a St. Louis-area highway.
Some good Samaritans made sure the female pig now known as Pickles the Miracle Pig found a safe place to recover and call home.
Just a few short weeks ago, Pickles was doomed.
"She fell off a commercial truck with a bunch of piglets going to their final destination," said Randy Grim, founder of Stray Rescue in St. Louis and Randy's Rescue Ranch in O'Fallon, Illinois.
Pickles landed on Interstate 44 near I-270. Traffic came to a halt and a woman scooped up the two-week-old piglet. She knew exactly who to call.
Randy's Rescue Ranch opened last October and is home to abused, large animals and dogs on hospice.
"Their stories are just as sad as some of the dogs that you hear about at Stray Rescue, but it's the same thing, kind of, except these guys turn out to be pretty big," Grim told KTVI.
Pickles suffered a broken leg and road rash from the fall. She is now healthy and growing by the day. Grim expects in six months, Pickles will weigh about 300 pounds.
After losing his mother and suffering a major medical scare of his own, Grim said Pickles showed up in his life at just the right time. His health has improved and he is ready to get back to work at the ranch.
"You can't save them all, but we got to save one piglet, and that's pretty amazing," Grim said.
Pickles joins several other large animals on the farm including horses and cows.
"When they're raised with love and TLC and people that just love them and want them to have the best in life, they are just like dogs," he said.
Grim is planning to train Pickles to become a therapy pig and continue to help people who visit the ranch.
The public is invited to visit Randy's Rescue Ranch and take pictures with Pickles the Miracle Pig and the other animals on August 18 from 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. For ten dollars visitors may spend the day exploring and taking photos.
