13-year-old builds shelter for Pender Co. pig sanctuary at capacity with abandoned pets

ATKINSON, NC (WWAY) — There’s no such thing as a ‘miniature pig’, but not everybody knows that, and it’s becoming a bit of a pot-bellied pig problem.

A woman in Pender County is trying to help, along with a 13-year-old boy who swooped in to help her when she really needed it.

“It started with two,” Nicole Talley said.  “I love a pig. They’re sweet. They’ll cuddle you. They’ll kiss you or snooze you, as you may call it.”

The first two turned into eight after Talley moved to Pender County.

“We moved out here from Wilmington,” Talley said. “I follow all of the pig pages on Facebook and just the need for pig sanctuaries was huge, so we took on a family. We still have that family and it just kind of grew from there.”

Talley’s need to help grew, too.

“Well, people think they are going to stay miniature, and that’s just not true,” Talley pointed out.

She says they can grow to 120 pounds or more.

Talley says pigs are as smart at toddlers. But they have emotions just like your dogs and cats.

“You have to use children locks on your cabinets just like a toddler,” Talley said. “You have to put away your dog food, your cat food, your people food. They will get into it all — all of it.”

That’s when a lot of people realize it’s too much.

“They over feed,” Talley pointed out. “They get big especially if they are in house and they don’t get outside time, they become very destructive. Some of them would give them away for free which is never a good thing to do. They’d reach out to different sanctuaries. I mean most sanctuaries I know are all over run.”

That’s why Talley opened Happy and Sunshine’s Pig Sanctuary in February of 2020. Her eight pigs turned into 74.

Talley says that’s the most she’s ever had and that she’s reached maximum capacity, despite having adopted out eight.

As Talley keeps trying to address the growing need to find permanent homes with the right people, she found herself needing help with more temporary shelter.

AJ Burke, 13, is hoping to soon become one of the youngest Eagle Scouts.

“Initially when I was trying to find my Eagle project, I wanted to do something with animals,” Burke says.

You might say he was in the right place or making the right phone call at the right time.

“Me and my mom reached out to different animal shelters,” Burke added.

That’s how they found Nicole Talley.

“And so we discussed and brought it back to my project coach and we made this,” said Burke.

After 231 hours, a determined 13-year-old with a plan and some help from his troop and family, Talley’s pack of pigs has its very own custom made 7 by 8 foot pig paradise.

Talley has a little piece of mind to go with it.

“It helps a lot and to be able to look out every morning when I come out and feed and just see that house sitting there and knowing that somebody donated their time to us,” Talley said. “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s a great feeling.”

While AJ’s mom may not let him bring Victor home, the future Eagle Scout seems to have a bit of pig passion in him, too.

“It feels really great knowing that 74 pigs, which is a lot, knowing that they’ll be able to have somewhere to be safe from the elements and other animals and be warm and sleep well really just makes my day,” Burke said.

While some of the pigs are adoptable, others, due to disabilities, will spend their lives at the sanctuary.

If you’re thinking about getting a pig, the Sanctuary advises you to do your research. Talley says to pause and maybe try your hand at volunteering first.

“Go to pig pages, go to pig sanctuaries. They can come out and meet the pigs,” Talley said.

If you want to help and volunteer your time or materials, or if you want to try to adopt one of the pigs, Talley says the best way to reach her is through the Happy and Sunshine Pig Sanctuary Facebook page HERE.