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Penticton  

900 pounds of love

Chelsea Powrie

A very lovable pig at the Critteraid animal sanctuary in Summerland is looking for help exercising and staying healthy.

Mr. Banks is a 900-pound, roughly six-year-old pig who was originally raised for meat, and was given growth hormones when he was younger. As a result, his weight is difficult to regulate, and he is far too large for his frame.

He now lives at the sanctuary, and needs some dedicated volunteers to help him go for walks in the early morning and early evening, outside of the hottest parts of the day. 

"We're looking for volunteers who would like to learn from our pasture manager how to take him for walks. We need to control his weight and his exercise," said animal director Jess Byer. "And that's just learning to keep him out of trouble, because it's like walking a toddler who weighs 900 pounds."

Heat and smoke are hard on Mr. Banks' lungs, so volunteers would need to be at the farm around 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. for his first walk of the day. 

"It's a fun job for somebody who wanted to learn how to basically just walk a pig like you'd walk a dog," Byer said. 

Mr. Banks loves treats like apples, and getting rubs and scratches on his nose.

For more information on how you can help Mr. Banks, call or text pasture manager Lori at 250-486-2994. 



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