Pig Rescue Saved From Foreclosure YAY!

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S'nout your daily depression session - a great tail! http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=600 & sid=1369376 Pig Rescue Saved From ForeclosureMarch 20, 2008 - 10:56am If you're behind on your mortgage, if you’re facing foreclosure, if you think there’s no hope at all – don’t fret. There’s some happy stories here after all. With her

back to the wall, Dana Wines managed to save her property from foreclosure by working out a plan with her mortgage company. In the process, she saved her home – and the 35 pigs she had acquired through Mercy Farm, the swine rescue organization for abused and neglected pigs that she runs off the property. And if she had given up...well, it's best not to think about it. “I would be an absolute disaster to get everyone moved,” Wines said. “I called different sanctuaries, and they have no room. There’s no room for these animals.” Wines first became enamored of pigs in the ‘90s, when she rescued her first animals in Fairfax County. Admittedly, she didn't know much back then. But one pig soon became a dozen,

and she was hooked. Most of the animals in need of rescue were the Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, promoted as an exotic alternative to man's best friend. But new owners often found there was much more involved. Some grow to be hundreds of pounds. Their bristles can rub holes in the furniture. One rescuer can even point to holes her pigs have eaten in the drywall. "There’s nothing cuter than a piglet," Wines said. "But this pig is going to challenge you." Her passion lead her to Culpeper. For years, Richard and Laura Hoyle had run a pig sanctuary in the county. When they decided to move to Tennessee, they offered their home to Wines. In 2005, she started Mercy Farm, and adopted several pigs from the Hoyles that wouldn't

survive the trip. Wines runs her operation differently, however. The Hoyles ran a sanctuary, meaning they could keep the pigs brought to them. By contrast, Wines runs a rescue. And while she keeps the pigs that couldn't find homes otherwise, she more often works with other rescue operations to find them homes. Soon she ran into some serious difficulty. Wines works in construction, a job field that’s suffered an enormous drop. She fell back on her mortgage – five months back, in fact. But finding homes for pigs is much more difficult than saving dogs or cats. Are these pigs livestock? Are they pets? Legally speaking, they’re livestock. That means potential owners must have their properly rezoned to handle livestock. Most pet rescue groups recognize pigs as livestock, meaning that the animals fall outside their purview. Conversely, most groups that rescue farm animals regard the pigs as pets, meaning

they fall outside their purview. "I've got 125 pigs – I'm stretched to the limits," Lorelei Pulliam, who runs Ranger's Refuge at Gallastar, a pig sanctuary in Afton, Va. "But other than me, I don't know anybody that would have helped her at all.I really had given up," Wines said. "I had lunch with a friend and I was in tears the day before. And I came back here and I told myself I had try again. And when I tried again, it started working. That was my ray of hope." After sitting down with her agent, they worked out a re-modification plan. The deal has her making three more payments before she gets back on her mortgage. The payments she missed will be tacked on the back once she’s done. That means she keeps the farm, and the company continues receiving a check. After all, when you're saving the world one pig at a time, failure is not an option. "I go out there, and I’ve got these little four-footed

animals running around that totally depend on me," Wines said. You may contact Jason Peck at 825-9882 or e-mail jpeck. Copyright 2008 Culpeper Times. All rights reserved. http://pets.Fortheanimals7/join