SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- Along the driveway to PIGS Animal Sanctuary is a statue of a large pig with a sign around its neck.
The sign tells animals arriving at the center that their troubles are over and they now have a home.
After being stranded on a levee during flooding in Iowa over the summer, the 15 pigs who arrived at the sanctuary Tuesday might have thought that looked pretty good.
The 15 pigs who arrived at the sanctuary off Persimmon Lane between Shepherdstown and Kearneysville, W.Va., were among more than 60 piglets and breeding sows rescued from a levee in Oakville, Iowa, in June and July following flooding in the Midwest, according to Farm Sanctuary, an animal shelter in Watkins Glen, N.Y., where the animals were taken initially.
After being left behind by evacuating farmers in Iowa, the pigs were stranded without food, clean water or shelter, were severely dehydrated, suffered third-degree burns from sun exposure and had lung damage from taking in contaminated water as they swam for their lives, according to a news release from the organization.
