Esther the Wonder Pig’s popularity is helping her owners raise money to bring a state-of-the-art CT scanner to the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph.
Esther the Wonder Pig’s popularity is helping her owners raise money to bring a state-of-the-art CT scanner to the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph.
Esther the Wonder Pig is using her celebrity status to help out other sizable animals across the nation.
When the famous pig fell ill last year, her owners Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter, who formerly lived in Georgetown and now own the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary in Milton, took her to the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) to find that she required a CT scan.
Esther, who weighs more than 600 pounds, couldn’t fit into the machine.
And veterinarians did not have an easy answer for her. There was no machine large enough in Canada. The only option Jenkins and Walter were presented with was to take Esther to the U.S. — an alternative that was not without a host of other issues.
Jenkins says due to the legal regulations associated with transporting a pig across the border, it was simply not feasible.
“You can go with a dog, you can go with a cow, you can go with a horse for the weekend, but you can’t, for whatever reason, go with a pig, so that was a whole different set of challenges,” Jenkins said. “They would have put her into a government quarantine facility, just not something that we were going to do, especially because she was sick.”
Jenkins said he and Walter were surprised by the lack of equipment necessary to help larger animals in the country.
“We just assumed that they had that sort of equipment and that any university would have that sort of equipment, and so it was a huge shock to find out they didn’t,” he said.
Because Esther was unable to receive the CT scan, a definitive diagnosis was unable to be delivered. Though she likely has musculoskeletal issues and is currently doing much better and is back at home, Jenkins says it is impossible to determine the proper methods to help her heal.
“Should we be pushing her to be more active? Will that help improve the problem and keep her strong and keep her healthy, or should we not be encouraging activity because that could aggravate the underlying issue?” Jenkins asked. “We don’t know.”
So, Jenkins and Walter made a bold promise to the OVC: they would find a way to bring the necessary CT scanner to Canada.
“I think they thought we were just being emotional at the time, because all this was happening while Esther was still in the hospital,” Jenkins said. “But as the negotiations continued on, they obviously realized we were very, very serious.”
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Lawyers were involved, accountants were involved, Canadian Customs was involved and papers were signed.
And thus ensued Esther’s online campaign to raise money for a scanner that would be able to help other animals her size and larger.
Jenkins and Walter’s goal was to raise $651,000 by July 1. And with tens of thousands of online followers, they were confident that Esther could make it happen. As of June 18, Jenkins said their unaudited total was about $603,000.
“We’re super, super excited,” Jenkins said. “We are under $50,000 Canadian away; it’s ridiculous.”
The machine, called the Pegaso CT Scanner, is designed for the purpose of equine imaging and provides exceptionally high resolution images, using less radiation.
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Jenkins says aside from the opportunity to provide equipment that has never been available in Canada before, he has advocated for making the machine affordable for certain organizations that may require usage for their ailing animals.
“One of the really cool things we negotiated with Guelph is any registered charity or not-for profit with a focus on rescue and rehabilitation of large animals will gain free access to the machine by way of a discount.,” he said.
He added that he is thrilled to be able to help others with animals in similar circumstances to Esther.
“This is one of those things that is so much bigger than us, so it was an opportunity to do something really significant.”
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