The little pig who could

There were dogs, cats, goats, fish and birds when our rescuers and partners responded in December 2024 to an alleged animal cruelty case at a house in Grady County, Oklahoma. And there was a single 1-year-old pig, standing in an empty trough, without food or water or hay to keep warm in the freezing cold. She looked at rescuers with curiosity and wriggled her nose.

Meredith Lee/Humane World for Animals

Sabine at the time of her rescue in 2024. Above, Sabine enjoys her new home at Humane World’s Black Beauty Ranch.

Now at our Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, Texas, the pig has a name: Sabine, after the river to the east. She weighs 330 pounds. (She’d been better fed than the other rescued animals, likely because she was destined for someone’s table.)

“She is a young, growing girl learning to be a pig,” says Christi Gilbreth, senior specialist for outreach and development at Black Beauty. Sabine’s favorite time of day is twilight, before sunrise—and her breakfast.

After her arrival at Black Beauty, Sabine was slowly introduced to Wichita, her first-ever pig companion. They rolled together in the mud. Then she and Wichita were moved to a pasture with four older pigs. Every morning and afternoon, Sabine runs up to the fence, grunting for food. Apples are her favorite.