This Woman Thought She Was Buying A Mini Pig, But It Grew Into A 551-Pound Swine That Is Adored By Its Family Despite Its Size
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Imagine that you live in a small apartment and get yourself a cute tiny puppy that you know won’t grow to be big in size. What if that dog turned out to be mixed with another breed about which you knew nothing and now the pet seemed to be too big for the living space? Sounds ridiculous, right?
Funny or not, that happened to Rosângela Martins dos Santos de Lara, a woman who lives in the city of Peruíbe, on the coast of São Paulo, Brazil. Only instead of a dog, she bought herself a piglet, which she believed was a special breed that usually doesn’t exceed 20 inches in height and 35 inches in length. Today, 3 years later, the pig weighs about 551 pounds and measures 5 feet. However, even though Rosângela wanted a tiny and cute Wilbur by her side, she got an adorable swine that grew along with her love.
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Meet Rosângela and her adorable pig she named Lilica
Image credits: lilica_pig
Rosângela bought the piglet 3 years ago with the promise that it would not grow up to be big
Image credits: lilica_pig
Image credits: lilica_pig
However, Lilica didn’t stop growing
Image credits: lilica_pig
Rosangela’s daughter, Larissa, told Bored Panda that the family was shocked when they saw that the pig was growing every day without thinking to stop. “We always thought it wasn’t going to grow anymore, but then it grew and grew. The proportion of the size that the pig has reached is insane but we love it and it is well taken care of.”
The Swine now weighs about 551 pounds and measures 5 feet
Image credits: lilica_pig
Despite the fact that the pig turned out to be not exactly what Rosângela imagined, it is still adored by its family and even its neighbors
Image credits: lilica_pig
Lilica is raised indoors, as a pet, and shares a room with Rosângela and her husband
Image credits: lilica_pig
According to Larissa, Lilica spends most of the day napping. The pig always does the same activities: it gets up with Rosangela, goes to the bathroom (always in the same place in the backyard of the house), eats breakfast, showers when it is too hot and goes out to graze and root. Lilica has dinner from 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm and goes to bed at 8:00 pm.
“It’s a stubborn animal! It has a strong personality. When it wants something you cannot stop it. There’s no discussion. It also makes a lot of noise, especially when it’s hungry, it opens the fridge, the cupboard and it makes a mess when it’s upset.”
The pig has its own mattress and eats about 11 pounds of food a day
Image credits: lilica_pig
Lilica receives all the family’s love
Image credits: lilica_pig
The pig draws attention wherever it goes and is liked by a lot of people, especially children
Image credits: lilica_pig
“The pig is best known in the neighborhood, a lot of people like it, especially children. When people see it, they’re surprised, they want to take a picture.”
Lilica also befriended some of the neighbourhood dogs. Although, she gets teased by some of them sometimes. But hey, who never teased their friends?
Even though Rosângela wanted a tiny and cute Wilbur by her side, she got an adorable swine that grew along with her love
Image credits: lilica_pig
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Miniature pigs aka teacup pigs do not exist. They are just severely malnourished pot-bellied pigs. Which stunts their growth and causes other health issues like brittle bones. The smallest pig you can get is the pot bellied pig but even they get to anywhere between 45-90 kilos (100-200 pounds).
I came here to say this, but you saved me the trouble. Things like this only strengthen my belief in the stupidity of humanity.
In the UK a few years back there was a celebrity craze for buying "minipigs", they were the must-have accessory for the rich and famous. Depending on who you asked these things were supposed to either stay the size of a rugby ball it's whole life, or grow no bigger than a house cat. Celebs, wannabes, and tryhards were paying upwards of £10k ($13.5k US, €12k) to have one of them to run around their living room, genuinely believing the hype about their size. Well of course there's nothing "special" or "different about these animals at all, they're just regular farmyard pigs that grow to the size of a bathtub and weigh half a tonne - but by the time people were starting to realise they've been duped, the sellers have all since long vanished.
🐷Same in the USA, Geoffers! I was given my first potbelly in 1995 by my neighbor's daughter, but it wasn't size that was the issue, it was the noise (squeals can be 130 decibels, jet=140). She lived within big-city limits and even potbellies are considered livestock. But she'd been told that "limit food to control size" myth and the poor thing was only screaming because it was starving. I researched, adjusted her diet and never had a noise problem. They die young from the starving because their organs do not fully form and the body starts "eating itself" away.
I don't get why people don't educate themselves before getting a pet! I'm glad she kept it anyway but it could have ended differently
Thank you! Came here to say the same; mini pigs do not exist.
exactly! that's why so many end up being given to a sanctuary. plus people don't know they're pack animals that need to be with other pigs and can get quite unruly or aggressive because they're lonely for other pigs. as smart and sweet as they can be, they're not meant to be house pets
Excellent point Danielle, same thing goes for guinea pigs and rabbits. They're extremely social and can suffer from depression when kept solitary. Switzerland has even passed a law against solo guinea pigs. I only had one potbelly at a time (rescues come when they come) but made sure to train and socialize them with all my other animals, dog cat ferret etc. The geese were always their favorite because they loved to be "attacked" by them and would roll over to have their belly "bitten" while grunting in contentment as their bristles "get a rise".
Actually, mini-pigs where originally enginereed on labs to researches, but eventually they became quite the popular pets, at least on Brazil. I don't know, maybe they aren't popular/don't exist on other countries...
I just had a read up and nowhere does it say they are pets. From what I've researched the engineered mini pigs are specifically bred for scientific research only and not available as a pet.
Milena may have gotten a bit of myth mixed in because... In 2015 BGI in Shenzhen, China announced that they were "pre-selling" 30lb research micro-pigs for $1,600 to raise money. They scrapped the project two years later without explanation.
Those aren't from research laboratories Milena, BGI never actually sold any, they scrapped that fundraiser before any left the Lab. What you & the rest of the world have are smaller breeds like Potbelly and KuneKunes instead of regular butchering hogs like on meat farms.
Pigs are highly intelligent and are actually very clean animals IF their living area is properly maintained. The wallowing in mud is to combat heat and pests in summer, as they don't sweat and can't swat or scratch at bugs effectively. (I've had 7 potbellies, trained them just like the dogs, the best were even housebroken.)
BTW, all of them were GIVEN to me by people who realized they'd been duped and couldn't manage them. I don't buy animals, I rescue or "take in".
I've done the same thing. I currently have 5 of them. They are amazing creatures. Each one is unique and none of them fit in a teacup.
But could maybe eat one covered in jam? I heard mine crunching suddenly while we were on a walk because she'd found a broken jam jar that neighbors' workers dropped & left in our cul dé sac and actually started eating it, glass and all. Thank God I'd taught her to "drop it" on command, the second thing that I always teach animals (after the recall). And, as I'm sure you know, that's not exactly easy with porcine.
I agree. A pig would be my ultimate support animal. Well, that and a Dragon... imagine telling someone their dragon can't be allowed on a plane? "Or what... your plane never leaves the ground and I fly to my destination on ALL OF YOUR AIR MASKS??!?"
Pigs are great support animals in their limited capacity. But can be such drama queens that "I just can't take you anywhere" applies😹🤣😹 (And I prefer to fly on my dragon instead of on a stinking plane! 😽🐲)
I’m happy they still cherished their pig regardless of how big they got. Sadly, a lot of people find out the hard way that there really is no such thing as a “mini” pig. Also that pig is adorable.
However much you love them, if you live on a 12th floor apartment you will not be able to care for them.
This is so true and it is, hands down, my biggest soap box issue. Something like 95% of pet pigs get re homed at least once in their life. The biggest reason people give when dumping their pig is "they got bigger than the breeder said they would." The second most common reason is "behavior issues." A pig is not a dog. They are highly intelligent, emotionally complex, PREY animals. They don't have a dog's eager to please attitude and they can be extremely dramatic. Oh, and they can and do bite. Sometimes they bite because they're scared, but they'll also bite just because they're royally ticked off. That being said, they're still my favorite creatures and I'll always have them in my life.
"...and they can be extremely dramatic." I normally balk at the Anthropomorphism of Animals but that is soooo spot on that I can only laugh wryly. 😹🤣😹
Miniature pigs aka teacup pigs do not exist. They are just severely malnourished pot-bellied pigs. Which stunts their growth and causes other health issues like brittle bones. The smallest pig you can get is the pot bellied pig but even they get to anywhere between 45-90 kilos (100-200 pounds).
I came here to say this, but you saved me the trouble. Things like this only strengthen my belief in the stupidity of humanity.
In the UK a few years back there was a celebrity craze for buying "minipigs", they were the must-have accessory for the rich and famous. Depending on who you asked these things were supposed to either stay the size of a rugby ball it's whole life, or grow no bigger than a house cat. Celebs, wannabes, and tryhards were paying upwards of £10k ($13.5k US, €12k) to have one of them to run around their living room, genuinely believing the hype about their size. Well of course there's nothing "special" or "different about these animals at all, they're just regular farmyard pigs that grow to the size of a bathtub and weigh half a tonne - but by the time people were starting to realise they've been duped, the sellers have all since long vanished.
🐷Same in the USA, Geoffers! I was given my first potbelly in 1995 by my neighbor's daughter, but it wasn't size that was the issue, it was the noise (squeals can be 130 decibels, jet=140). She lived within big-city limits and even potbellies are considered livestock. But she'd been told that "limit food to control size" myth and the poor thing was only screaming because it was starving. I researched, adjusted her diet and never had a noise problem. They die young from the starving because their organs do not fully form and the body starts "eating itself" away.
I don't get why people don't educate themselves before getting a pet! I'm glad she kept it anyway but it could have ended differently
Thank you! Came here to say the same; mini pigs do not exist.
exactly! that's why so many end up being given to a sanctuary. plus people don't know they're pack animals that need to be with other pigs and can get quite unruly or aggressive because they're lonely for other pigs. as smart and sweet as they can be, they're not meant to be house pets
Excellent point Danielle, same thing goes for guinea pigs and rabbits. They're extremely social and can suffer from depression when kept solitary. Switzerland has even passed a law against solo guinea pigs. I only had one potbelly at a time (rescues come when they come) but made sure to train and socialize them with all my other animals, dog cat ferret etc. The geese were always their favorite because they loved to be "attacked" by them and would roll over to have their belly "bitten" while grunting in contentment as their bristles "get a rise".
Actually, mini-pigs where originally enginereed on labs to researches, but eventually they became quite the popular pets, at least on Brazil. I don't know, maybe they aren't popular/don't exist on other countries...
I just had a read up and nowhere does it say they are pets. From what I've researched the engineered mini pigs are specifically bred for scientific research only and not available as a pet.
Milena may have gotten a bit of myth mixed in because... In 2015 BGI in Shenzhen, China announced that they were "pre-selling" 30lb research micro-pigs for $1,600 to raise money. They scrapped the project two years later without explanation.
Those aren't from research laboratories Milena, BGI never actually sold any, they scrapped that fundraiser before any left the Lab. What you & the rest of the world have are smaller breeds like Potbelly and KuneKunes instead of regular butchering hogs like on meat farms.
Pigs are highly intelligent and are actually very clean animals IF their living area is properly maintained. The wallowing in mud is to combat heat and pests in summer, as they don't sweat and can't swat or scratch at bugs effectively. (I've had 7 potbellies, trained them just like the dogs, the best were even housebroken.)
BTW, all of them were GIVEN to me by people who realized they'd been duped and couldn't manage them. I don't buy animals, I rescue or "take in".
I've done the same thing. I currently have 5 of them. They are amazing creatures. Each one is unique and none of them fit in a teacup.
But could maybe eat one covered in jam? I heard mine crunching suddenly while we were on a walk because she'd found a broken jam jar that neighbors' workers dropped & left in our cul dé sac and actually started eating it, glass and all. Thank God I'd taught her to "drop it" on command, the second thing that I always teach animals (after the recall). And, as I'm sure you know, that's not exactly easy with porcine.
I agree. A pig would be my ultimate support animal. Well, that and a Dragon... imagine telling someone their dragon can't be allowed on a plane? "Or what... your plane never leaves the ground and I fly to my destination on ALL OF YOUR AIR MASKS??!?"
Pigs are great support animals in their limited capacity. But can be such drama queens that "I just can't take you anywhere" applies😹🤣😹 (And I prefer to fly on my dragon instead of on a stinking plane! 😽🐲)
I’m happy they still cherished their pig regardless of how big they got. Sadly, a lot of people find out the hard way that there really is no such thing as a “mini” pig. Also that pig is adorable.
However much you love them, if you live on a 12th floor apartment you will not be able to care for them.
This is so true and it is, hands down, my biggest soap box issue. Something like 95% of pet pigs get re homed at least once in their life. The biggest reason people give when dumping their pig is "they got bigger than the breeder said they would." The second most common reason is "behavior issues." A pig is not a dog. They are highly intelligent, emotionally complex, PREY animals. They don't have a dog's eager to please attitude and they can be extremely dramatic. Oh, and they can and do bite. Sometimes they bite because they're scared, but they'll also bite just because they're royally ticked off. That being said, they're still my favorite creatures and I'll always have them in my life.
"...and they can be extremely dramatic." I normally balk at the Anthropomorphism of Animals but that is soooo spot on that I can only laugh wryly. 😹🤣😹