Esther the Wonder Pig has quickly disproven the theory that it’s a dog’s life.
Esther has her own single bed, a jar of Scotch mints all to herself, bumper stickers, a full-colour calendar, and best of all, the love of two daddies under one roof.
Yes, she’s living the dream at her new home in rural Campbellville where her owners, Derek Walter and Steve Jenkins, will open a farm animal sanctuary this summer.
Happily Ever Esther — the name of the sanctuary — was made possible thanks to their pet pig’s celebrity status around the world.
Esther became an Internet sensation shortly after Jenkins and Walter, then living in a quiet Georgetown neighbourhood, realized she wasn’t the “tea-cup pig” that they thought they were adopting.
That was 2012. Esther — they were told – was six months old and her owner couldn’t care for her any longer, said Walter. In fact, she was likely closer to four weeks old, and Jenkins said, they found out later there’s no such thing as a mini-pig.
They’ve learned a lot on their journey with Esther, who now weighs in at 670 pounds and spends her days lounging around the house, along with two cats, two dogs, and four rabbits, while her photos and stories spread like wildfire on the Internet.
“At first, we were like, OK, she’s getting bigger and bigger, and she got to 250 pounds,” Walter said, adding that he believes she was rescued from a commercial farm litter by people who thought they were doing her a favour. “We were still in that ‘deny, deny, deny’ stage.
“Finally, we realized we’ve got a full-fledged sow on our hands and we’re living in a 1,000-sq.-ft. bungalow.”
About this time, they also realized they had no choice but to move to a farm since Esther’s size made it impossible to continue to live in a small neighbourhood.
The search was on. Today, Esther’s owners believe she came to them because a path had been chosen. They were meant to open a sanctuary for farm animals, share Esther’s story and perhaps open the eyes of people around the world to become more compassionate about animals.
Esther the Wonder Pig became everything they stood for in their journey because “everything became a wonder,” said Jenkins, from how big she’s grown, to how amazing she is.
There was such interest in Esther from friends and family, that Jenkins and Walter created a Facebook page in December 2013. Using social media, Esther’s celebrity status took off. Today, along with a fan club, she enjoys an audience of more than 15,000 on Twitter, 110,000 on Instagram and nearly 260,000 on Facebook.
Esther’s got her own non-fiction hard-cover book coming out later this year and she’s got publicists and lawyers handling the publicity.
Followers sought more… they wanted to donate to help Esther and the cause.
‘Peace, Love, Esther’ quickly became their motto. They opened an online store – selling shirts, sweatshirts, mugs and more.
They also started to fundraise. Purchasing the farm of their dreams in Campbellville was an expensive proposition. Scraping together as much money between them as they could, Jenkins and Walter knew they’d have to come up with more than $400,000 in just a few short months to make the farm purchase possible.
“I always envisioned finding a farm with the typical red-barn shape,” said Walter. When they drove up to the 50-acre farm they now own, the red barn was indeed intact. They placed an “outrageous offer” on the property, on a wing and a prayer, pleading in a cover letter to give them time to come up with financing.
With a two-month deadline to raise that kind of cash, they knew they had their work cut out for them. Esther’s fans made it happen through Internet crowdfunding: 8,000 donors from 44 countries around the world gave money.
It’s thanks to social media that Jenkins and Walters enjoyed a visit earlier this month from comedian/actor Ricky Gervais and his partner Jane Fallon. The animal rights activists had made a few purchases at www.estherthewonderpig.com. Jenkins and Walter, who grew up in Hagersville, knew they were huge pet lovers, and after a few back-and-forth emails, they invited them to visit their farm.
“I couldn’t believe it when they drove up the driveway, and then there he is, Ricky Gervais, standing on my front porch, hands in his pockets,” laughed Jenkins. “They were super people. It was a great visit.”
Jenkins said they spent a few hours visiting and even had a tour of the barn, which now houses three rescued cows, a horse and donkey and four pigs.”
Numerous photos on twitter show Gervais on their couch, with Esther or one of the dogs.
But it’s Esther who’s captured the hearts of pig lovers around the world. Thanks to numerous appearances on television, Esther is a world-wide sensation. There have been all kinds of requests for appearances, including the Rachael Ray show. Jenkins said he’d love to have an appearance on Ellen and contacts are in progress.
Esther understands everything they say, said Walter. She comes when she’s called and she’s a loving, loveable pet they adore. She likes belly rubs along with the soft spots behind her ears. She likes to bury in the dirt in the summer and play in the winter snow. Right now, with the ground frozen, she’s the cleanest pig you could imagine. She’s intelligent and funny with a big personality, Jenkins added, noting she can even go up and down stairs.
In the summer, she loves nothing more than to flop about in swimming spots. At her former Georgetown home, there was nothing her owners could do to keep her from getting into their 5,000-gallon backyard koi pond. There, she quickly destroyed every water lily that Jenkins had so carefully planted.
Her various grunts and squeals are easily interpreted by her two attentive owners, who post up to 10 or more photos of her each day. Those photos are spread around the world with more than two million shares a week.
Her fans in turn send her everything from hand-made blankets to watercolour paintings, and even a crocheted pig, along with a crocheted look-alike of both Walter and Jenkins.
Esther eats about 12 cups of vegetables a day. Her favourite treat is Scotch mints along with watermelon or mango. She likes to drink — mostly water — but her favourite is iced tea. Pictures posted last weekend show Esther breaking into their fridge, and destroying a box of red wine, which Jenkins captioned on Twitter. “Sorry about your wine. I was gonna get you a glass but the box slipped and fell into my mouth...multiple times.”
Numerous other photos show either Jenkins and Walters or their various pets curled up next to Esther on blankets or the couch.
During the winter months, Esther sleeps up to 18 hours a day, crashing for the night when the sun sets around 6 p.m.
“Pigs don’t see well at night, so they go to bed early,” said Walter. “She’ll only sleep about 10 hours in the summer months.”
Calling themselves “accidental activists,” Jenkins, who’s a realtor, and Walter are passionate about being “Esther-approved,” as opposed to the “V” word, which they share strong opinions on.
“We’re not so much vegans as we are “Esther-approved,” laughs Walter, who gave up his former career as a magician to open the sanctuary and further spread the word about Esther. They quickly changed their diet from being meat eaters after falling in love with Esther.
And, yes, Esther does have her favourites.
Walter said “it’s a case of “good-cop, bad-cop,” where I’m the bad cop, because I’m making sure she does what she’s told,” he laughed, and “Steve is more lenient.”
Happily Ever Esther will open in July, with a grand opening scheduled for July 1, which also happens to be Esther’s birthday. After the opening, Walter said they’ll hold individualized, pre-booked tours along with school tours and educational visits for groups at the farm and community garden.
Jenkins said it’s the most-followed sanctuary in Canada, with 800,000 followers in just 80 days.
“It’s pretty crazy, we work for a pig,” he laughed.
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