A Visit from Pua the Pig

To celebrate the end of the school year, students at Positive Tomorrows got to meet a visitor almost as smart and kind as they are.

Pua, the pot-belly rescue, is a two-year-old therapy pig who lives on a farm right outside of Oklahoma City (and yes, he is as sweet as the one in Moana). He and his posse, which includes his incredibly dedicated owner and his ever-so-patient handler from the animal rescue, travel around the greater Oklahoma area providing animal-assisted support, as well as knowledge and insight about Pua’s breed.

So what did Positive Tomorrows’ students learn about Pua and his fellow pot-belly pigs?

1) Pua loves art and even brought along some of his paintings to show students.

2) Pot-belly pigs have hair – not fur – and it feels like hay.

3) Once fully grown, Pua and other pot-belly pigs can have the mental capacity of an eight-year-old human – which is as old as some of the students who met him!

4) Pot-belly pigs can eat poison ivy and not get poisoned. This information was learned in a response to a pertinent question from one of the students!

Through opportunities like spending time with Pua, pre-school and elementary students are getting hands-on experience with animals they learn about in the classroom. Many students at Positive Tomorrows never get this chance outside of school, making their time there that much more valuable.

To quote a student as they reached out to pet him, “my dream came true.” Because of dedicated caretakers like Pua’s, and caring teachers and staff at Positive Tomorrows, these childrens’ dreams become more attainable day by day.

Have a unique experience, loving pet or interesting attraction that could benefit our students? Email us at volunteer@positivetomorrows.org, and tell us all about it!

Thanks to our friends at Ghost, and their intern Quinlan Parrish, for guest-writing this article, and toour friends at Hello Good OKC for making this visit possible.