A giant farm dog and a tiny piglet cuddle
up as if they were family after the baby runt was dismissed by its own mother.
Surrogate mum Katjinga, an eight-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback, took on motherly
duties for grunter Paulinchen - a tiny pot-bellied pig - and seems to be taking
the adoption in her stride. Lonely Paulinchen was luckily discovered moments
from death and placed in the care of the dog who gladly accepted it as one of
her own. Thankfully for the two-week old mini porker, Katjinga fell in love with
him at first sight and saved his bacon.
And the unlikely relationship has made
the wrinkly piggy a genuine sausage dog. In these adorable images Paulinchen can
even be seen trying to suckle from his gigantic new mum.
The two animals live together on a huge
20-acre farm in Hoerstel, Germany , where Katjinga's owners Roland Adam, 54, and
his wife Edit, 44, a bank worker, keep a pair of breeding Vietnamese
pigs.
Nose place like home: The baby piglet
nuzzles up to its new mum.
Property developer Roland found the weak
and struggling piglet after he was abandoned by the rest of his family one
evening after he was born.
He said: "The pigs run wild on our land
and the sow had given birth to a litter of five in our forest.
"I found Paulinchen all alone and when I
lifted him up he was really cold.
"I
felt sure some local foxes would have taken the little pig that very night so I
took it into my house and gave him to Katjinga..
"She had just finished with a litter of
her own, who are now 10 months, so I thought there was a chance she might take
on the duties of looking after him.
"Katjinga is the best mother you can
imagine. She immediately fell in love with the piggy. Straight away she started
to clean it like it was one of her own puppies.
"Days later she started lactating again
and giving milk for the piggy. She obviously regards it now as her own baby."
Mum of the year? Quite possibly.
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