Destined to Be Slaughtered, This Disabled Piglet Will Now Lead a Beautiful Life (PHOTOS)

Any animal destined to become food is treated as a commodity in some fashion and their individual necessities, comforts, and desires are rarely given any consideration, even though they are forced to give up so much – their entire lives – to become a “something” for someone else.

Factory farms take the most advantage of farm animals out of any type of animal farming. These massive operations confine and abuse animals under the guise of “industry practice.” What’s more, the industry as a whole tries its very best to stop any legislation that might lead to increased protections for farm animals and has even tried to pass “ag-gag” legislation, which would make it impossible for the public to know what goes on behind the facilities’ closed doors.

Of course, not all farms are factory farms – some are free range, where the animals receive pasture time and more care than at industrialized operations. However, animals here are still mere commodities and their lives are not usually worth more than the profits the farm owners will receive.

This is why three-week-old piglet Leon Trotsky would have had a much different fate if he hadn’t been rescued by a kind soul in late April 2014.

Leon was born on a free range farm in Australia and was originally destined to be slaughtered like all the other pigs on the property. However, not long after he was born, his injured mother fell on him, leaving him disabled with a broken and dislocated femur.

As Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary reports, pigs like Leon who suffer “such life threatening injuries” have a “grim” fate.

“With a Code of Practice that advises a blunt trauma to the head can be carried out by persons with ‘low skills’ as a no-cost means of addressing the problem, an injured piglet’s worth is little,” Edgar’s Mission writes.

Thankfully, a kind soul heard about sweet little Leon’s plight and acted quickly to rescue him before he was sentenced to death and discarded.

However, after realizing that Leon would need more specialized care, Leon’s rescuer decided to surrender him to a better life at Edgar’s Mission in Willowmavin, Australia.

Here, Leon has been receiving round-the-clock attention, love, and vet care – things he had never experienced before. He has also received an amazing set of wheels to help him get around the sanctuary’s vast grounds.

Since arriving at Edgar’s Mission, sanctuary staffs have been absolutely amazed at Leon’s spirit despite all his hardships so early in life.

“At just over three weeks of age, little Leon Trotsky has more spunk than most who are ten times his size and he has already beaten the odds not once but twice,” Edgar’s Mission writes.

Check out Leon in action with the video below and be sure to keep up with his recovery and brand new life at Edgar’s Mission through the sanctuary’s Facebook page!

Lead Image Source: Edgar’s Mission