Sam is an adorable hairless Yucatan pig, rescued from a dermatological lab near San Diego, CA during the onset of the global Covid-19 pandemic. When a shelter-in-place went into effect in March 2020, all of their testing labs were closed resulting in the immediate euthanasia of lab animals. By working with a partner rescue group, as well as an employee of the lab, Sam was among 11 pigs that were released to animal sanctuaries.

Sam arrived at Sweet Farm, his forever home, that same evening with another piglet we named Frodo. Not having ever been outside, these piglets were unable to walk very far and did not know how to be pigs. With lots of TLC from our Animal Care Team, in a few months they changed from timid and weak, to happy, outgoing piggies who love to run and play in their large pastures with many other friends.

We lost Frodo suddenly in late 2024 to very aggressive lymphoma, which is very common in Yucatan pigs, bred solely for the purposes of biomedical testing.