Recently, financial commentators have been doing much talking about the economic plight of pigs, but not, it seems, of the oinking type. PIGS in the contemporary political & economic parlance of their smug northern European neighbours, refers to Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain.
In fairer times these same countries were equally disparangingly referred to as ‘Club Med’, but right now, PIGS are deep in the economic Pooh, and not of the Winnie variety. The imminent financial collapse of Portugal and Greece is so serious that it is likely to have all sorts of repercussions as we struggle to extricate ourselves from the spectre of further recession.
Meanwhile, pigs of the other (porcine) persuasion appear to be on an ‘up’ as domestic pet pig numbers rise in the UK. I well remember the incredulity that greeted the arrival of the Vietnamese pot bellied pig as a potential domestic companion. And then the further surprise when their proud owners watched them go on to reach their final adult weight.
Now we also have to cope with the Kune Kune from New Zealand. If you happen to speak Farsi – and I realise that since our Iranian and Afghani readership is likely to be fairly limited, this point has minimal interest to you – the idea of a pet pig whose official name is Kune Kune would cause you some hilarity, even matching that caused by the arrival in Iran of a Greek ambassador named Kyriakos. Suffice it to say that both have a decidedly perineal tone.
But I digress. Pet pigs appear to be causing something of a headache for pet vets who are asked to treat them, since cats and dogs they clearly are not.
So what do you need to watch out for if you are a pet pig owner?
Sunburn and insect bites, overgrown toenails, dry skin and mange top the list.
All of which seem to take us back perilously close to the possible consequences of a careless young person’s holiday as might take place in the aforementioned Club Med/PIGS countries, perhaps.
On a slightly less frivolous note, you can’t just take your pet pig for a walk (you need a licence) and you can’t feed them any food that contains meat products (used to be called pigswill, but now forbidden in an attempt to try to prevent another outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth disease). You also need to vaccinate them against erysipelas & leptospirosis and treat them for worms.
Just think, if those same restrictions also applied to young people going on Mediterranean holidays, there’d be a few people rethinking their summer plans…