Elvis
My name is Elvis and I am a great teacher. I teach
others that you cannot judge a book by its cover. By that, I mean
that what someone looks like on the outside is not always how
they truly are on the inside. While I know that on the outside
I may look like a pig, I’m pretty sure that inside I am
really more like a dog. I can sit and roll over and fetch. I know
my name and come when I’m called. I am really smarter and
more well behaved than most dogs that I know. I have such good
manners because when I was a cute little baby, a nice lady took
me home to live in her house. The lady loved me and took good
care of me. She let me live in the house and fed me everything
and anything I wanted. I loved to eat lots of sweet sugary foods.
She let me sit in her lap and gave me lots of kisses. But soon,
I grew too big to live in the house anymore. I moved outside to
the yard and the lady still loved me but the neighborhood children
were not nice to me. They teased me through the fence and even
threw things at me when I got upset. The lady knew that I was
not happy in the yard. Even though she still loved me, she knew
that I needed to live somewhere else. But where could I go? There
are lots of places for dogs and cats that need a safe new home
but where could a pig who acts like a dog go? The lady looked
everywhere and just when she was about to give up, she found just
the place for me - the sanctuary! But the sanctuary didn’t
have any pigs. Would they let me live there? I wasn’t sure
but after my new mom met me and I showed her what a marvelous
boy I am, she said “Sure, Elvis can stay here!” So,
that’s how I came to live at the sanctuary. My new mom took
me to the dentist because my teeth were rotten from eating too
much sweet sugary food. I get more exercise and eat good healthy
food so I am in great shape now. I love it here and I still get
kisses. It wasn’t easy at first, though. You see, my legs
don’t work so well and my eyesight is not that great. I
move very stiffly and I have to get pretty close to things in
order to be able to see them well. When I first got to the sanctuary,
I walked around looking for friends but the goats and sheep didn’t
like me at first and wouldn’t let me get anywhere near them.
They ran from me every time I came near. They didn’t know
that I only wanted to be friends. They didn’t know that
although I looked different from them on the outside, I was the
same as them on the inside. I wanted a safe place to live where
I would be warm and full and dry. Eventually the sheep and goats
got used to the way I look and they got to know me better. They
are not frightened of me anymore. I am a very important part of
the sanctuary family because I taught them that even someone who
looks different needs love and can be a good friend.
