Disaster strikes - but every cloud has a silver lining

Rosie remembers very little of her birth family, as she was just as few weeks old when they perished - every one of them, in a tragic accident. Actually this was no accident at all - for the pigs were captured and rounded up by nasty humans while foraging for wild truffles, and were transported to the local pork pie factory to be made into pies.

Fortunately Rodrigo and his family were on hogiday in the area at the time, and Rodrigo's Mum Maria as a pig rights activist, heard about the factory and persuaded her hog Pedro, and the rest of the family to help her rescue the captured pigs. They snatched a squealing and terrified Rosie just as she was about to enter the machine. Unfortunately it was too late for the other pigs, and Rosie was the only survivor - or so they thought ...

Maria had recently given birth to a litter of her own, who were the same age as young Rosie, so they adopted Rosie into the litter and brought her up as their own. It was Rodrigo who carried Rosie out of the factory on his back (piggy back style), and Rodrigo who named her, after the pink colour of her coat, which as Rosie grew older has gradually changed to brown.

Rodrigo who at the time was ten years old, fell in love with Rosie the first time he saw her, and as soon as they were old enough, the two animals left Spain for a new life in England. Rodrigo worked as a waiter in a Spanish restaurant, but the restaurant closed down and he was unable to find another job, so they were forced to sell themselves to a card shop in Croydon. That was when I found them and gave them a sty of their own. The rest as they say is history ...

Meet the Trotters

This is a pigture of Rosie Trotter, the matriarch of the Trotter clan, with her hog Rodrigo. Rosie and Rodgrigo share a sty in Slurrey Hills.

They grew up together in Spain, where they fell in love and after moving to England and having their first litter, trotted up the aisle.

I discovered them in a card shop in the Whitgift Centre in Croydon which they had sold themselves to after Rodrigo lost his job. Rosie was pregnant at the time, but I didn't realise this until later when she gave birth to a litter of six beautiful porklets.

These two animals have been my faithful companions for over 25 years, always there with a listening ear and never passing judgment. They have had their own share of problems along the way, especially Rosie, who lost her family when she was just a few weeks old. If you want to know more then read on ...