We certainly never thought we'd be doing animal rescue, certainly not running an animal sanctuary. Animals have always been part of our lives in the way they are with most people. They are the little creatures people keep
that crawl up in their laps hoping for a little attention.  Or, they are the creatures some people keep tied up in their backyard providing food, water, and little else. One has to wonder why those people have companion animals at all.

One day this baby pig appeared under a storage shed at my workplace. There
was no reasonable explanation for her being there and for many reasons it
was not a safe place for her to be. For one thing, one of the troopers was
trying to catch her with the intention of growing her big enough to eat.
For another thing, the office was located right on one of the busiest
streets in the city and the chance of her wandering away from the shed, getting
into the street and run over was pretty good. I figured if I caught her,
she'd be safe until I could find out what one does with baby pigs. In that
moment, despite the subconscious knowledge that people, myself included,
eat pigs, it never occurred to me that what one does with baby pigs is eat
them. In that moment, she was a baby...no different than any other baby of
any other kind anywhere. So I coaxed her into a cardboard box and I took
her home. That certainly turned out to be a fateful decision. Everything in
our lives is different because of that one little pig being where she
never should have been.

In all honesty, we made a good effort to get rid of her. To a safe place,
of course. After she ate the brand new $600 linoleum floor in our newly
remodeled kitchen, we decided that perhaps a pig wasn't the thing to have.
We already had three dogs and two cats. We figured we had enough animals
without adding a pig to the mix. Not only that, we are city people, we
didn't know anything about pigs. Well, I didn't. Clinton's grandmother lived on
a farm in KY so despite having grown up in Los Angeles he had a better
feel than this Miami gal who had never even seen a real live pig.  We found a
petting zoo type of place that was willing to take her a four hour drive
away. Well, she peed and pooped all over me shortly after we started out
(she was sitting in my lap) and I wasn't spending any 8 hours in a car like
that so we turned around and went home. He built her a nice pen area and a
house out in the back yard where she screamed her lungs out causing the
neighbor to knock on the door and ask if we were allowed to have a pig
within the city limits. We told him she wasn't ours...that we were keeping her
for a friend...that would be just the beginning...

We moved from a nice house in a nice little city, out to the middle of
nowhere. We gave up what would have been a wonderful and comfortable early
retirement. The closest store is 14 miles away. We don't take vacations or
have money to spend on things we don't really need. We have adjusted our
workdays from five to seven per week and from eight hours a day to about
seventeen. Our lives are full, but it's a different kind of full than people
strive for because little in it is about us or for us. It's about the
animals. ALL about the animals. It's about their lives, their safety and
comfort, their needs. It's about us only to the degree we stay healthy and able
to work to make enough money to take care of them if donations fall short
of necessary expenses, and that is often the case. 

This has been a learning experience for us on so many levels. Crash
courses, actually. Learning that if one can accept a pig as a being entitled to
a life outside the human food chain, and actually get to know her, well,
the world and the things that go on in it, things that have always been
considered acceptable will never look quite the same. At least that's what
has happened to us. The workings of the world have taken on new meaning and
we seem to see every aspect of it through new eyes. It's hard to imagine
that a little black pig could come along and be such an incredible catalyst
to increased understanding and awareness in so many (not pig) areas. The
pigs, and all the other kinds who have come since, have given us something
we would have never had; an understanding and acute awareness of the
incredible similarity, verses any great difference, between all those "other"
animals and the human one. There is not nearly as much difference between
us and them as we believed all our lives. It is like having been in a coma
for more than four decades and suddenly being awake. Acquiring that new
kind of perspective, over time, created a certain kind of horror and a
number of very important questions which will be explored in a philosophy and
study web site which is in the planning stages. Look for a link here once
it launches, hopefully by early spring.  

Our organization is finally becoming successful in recruiting the support
of both people and other organizations who have an appreciation for animals, their
plight, and the work we do to help them. The Internal Revenue Service has granted
us 501(c)3 status, that of a charitable organization, and donations to Darlynn's
Darlins, Inc., are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

We have started an online store which we would love for you to visit and
share with your friends. Proceeds support the animals. Click here to check out our
store!

We have quite a group of animals that would love to have cyber parents
that contribute  on a monthly basis to their care and maybe even come for
visits and to give belly rubs.

It costs approximately $335.00 per week just to feed all the animals that
live here at Piggy Heights since the price of feed recently increased a
full dollar per bag due to increases in the cost of fuel and corn. If you
are in a position to donate toward the cost of their food and care, please
click here for more sponsorship/donation information. Donations are tax
deductible on your Federal Income Tax Return under "Charitable
Contributions."
 

WISH LIST                                   

* CORPORATE SPONSORS (Maybe the company YOU work for would be willing to
support our work)
* VOLUNTEERS (to help at the sanctuary)
* VOLUNTEERS (to help with fund raising/donations)
* DONATIONS OF MONEY OR ITEMS FOR RESALE ON EBAY
* IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR ANIMAL AREAS WITH AUTOMATIC WATERERS
* METAL ROOFING MATERIAL (15'LENGTH X 44 three foot PANELS)


FEED:
 Manna Pro Swine ($6.95 per 50#)
 Dog and Cat Food
 Layer and Scratch ($9.95 per 50#)
 Medicated Goat Feed
 Rabbit Food
 Nutrena Show Horse and Show Horse Senior
 Hay for bedding and Hay for eating ($45 per roll and $5.95 per bale)

CLEAN FILL DIRT/SAND (over $100 per 18 yard load and we desperately need
about 10 loads)
GRASS SEED


BUILDING MATERIALS:
HOG PANEL/ROLLED WIRE FIELD FENCING (Horse or Graduated size link)
TREATED LUMBER (2x4x8,4x4x8,2x6x8)
TREATED PLYWOOD, 3/4"
METAL ROOFING MATERIAL

GIANT/JUMBO SIZE DOG CARRIER
USED, CLEAN COMFORTERS
AREA RUGS & WASHABLE SMALL RUGS
3/4" RUBBER HOSES in 50' and 100' lengths

CLEANING PRODUCTS:
HYDRATED LIME
FLY CONTROL PRODUCTS
RAKES
SHOVELS
BUCKETS
MOPS
WHEELBARROWS
BLEACH
SOAP POWDER

BIG POPCORN POPPING MACHINE
POPCORN