‘Pigs & birds & rabbits, oh my!’
Unique companions find homes with SHS students, staff
Photo submitted by: Jayy Whited
Freshman Jayy Whited cares for Peatrie, a white Umbrella Cockatoo.
April 20, 2021
Sixty-seven percent of U.S. households own a pet, according to the 2019-2020 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association.
While many SHS families share their homes with the traditional dog, cat, or fish, others have some unique furry and feathered companions.
Junior Zak Kegg and his mom, tutor, and volleyball coach Julie Genovese own two Kunekune. Kunekune are domestic pigs who originate from New Zealand. They are usually hairy and have a rotund build. Their color ranges from black, white, ginger, and brown. Many are even tricolored.
About a year ago, Kegg and Genovese adopted two Kunekune, “Boojee” and “Meatlug.”
“My husband, who is a teacher, was away with his sixth-grade students at Camp Fitch. The pigs had just been born on the farm there. He found out that some of the pigs were not adopted and would be going to slaughter,” Genovese said.
Learning that Kunekune is high-quality meat, they couldn’t stand the thought of them being killed. Soon enough the family was convinced to adopt.
The pigs have very unique personalities. They are very intelligent, loving, curious, and extremely food-driven. They learn very quickly, and within 10 minutes they learned how to spin and sit. They love being social and exploring around. Genovese explained.
“Meatlug is the more adventurous one- she will get rough with her sister to get more food, she’s more likely to escape. While Boojee is the good girl and stays in the yard and is rather calm,” Genovese said.
Meatlug and Boojee eat many different foods and have an extremely healthy diet. Some foods that they eat are heads of lettuce, celery, carrots, cheerios, granola, oats, along with their pellets sold at Farm and Family here in town.
“They eat all day, every day!” Genovese exclaimed.
Along with their eating, both pigs love to be very vocal. She explained how the pigs have over 32 different sounds in their language.
“One of them is a mimic sound to a dog bark. When they are wandering the house and come up to a sleeping and lazy dog, they will “bark” at them to greet them. It’s a really cute sound and very different from any other sound they make,” Genovese said.
The entire family loves and enjoys the company of these cute and curious companions.
“Although I like the pigs, if I could get another animal, it would probably be a ferret, because they are pretty cute,” Kegg said.
Junior Haylee Bellar also has a few unique pets: an American rabbit and a Harlequin rabbit. Their names are Kevin and Ellie. She has had Kevin, the American, for two and a half years, and Ellie for about five months. She got both from a breeder.
“I’ve always wanted rabbits because they are adorable and are like miniature dogs,” she said.
Bellar added that she loves to spoil them by buying them clothes, toys, and treats.
Kevin is very laid back and lazy, she explained Ellie, on the other hand, is very energetic and is “an escape artist,” With a curious personality, Bellar said.
“One time, when I went to go check on them, Ellie was on the roof of their hutch, trying to break out and escape,” she said.
Besides their yearning to get into everything, the rabbits love to lay around, run in the backyard, and play.
“If I could get another animal, it would be a cow…,” Bellar said. “They are just so sweet and friendly, and it makes me sad when people eat them.”
Another SHS student with an atypical choice in pets is freshman Jordan Whited.
Whited owns 30 parrots and fosters 10. They got all of their parrots this year from the rescue and fosters at Parrot Hope in Mantua.
Whited’s ultimate love for taking care of birds started with a Mexican Redhead Amazon named Cherry, they explained. When Whited’s family heard Cherry was going to be surrendered, they decided to bring it home.
Sadly, Cherry passed away last year, but this led Whited and their family to foster even more birds.
The next birds they brought home were two little love birds and an African Grey. At this point, Whited’s family was attached.
Whited’s birds each have very different and unique personalities.
“Half the birds sing, talk and dance,” Whited said. “The cockatoos love to cuddle and not leave you alone.”
Whited said if they could get another pet, it would be a dog.
“I have a dog that’s tired of being friends with the birds,” they said, “so I would love to get him another dog friend.”
