Sunny Side Up

“If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great
loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts
also happens to the man. All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth.”

- Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Tribe -

Letter to President Franklin Pierce

This week’s sunny side up is a photo of an unusual animal friendship and the endearing story behind it.

A potbellied piglet and a rhodesian ridgeback

One cold night in 2009, Roland Adam of Hoerstel, Germany, discovered a pair of recently born pigs on his twenty-acre property. One had already died of exposure and the other was a squirming handful of pinkish skin, chilled to the core, barely alive. The piglet became little Paulinchen, and Roland decided to hand her off to his dog, who had recently weaned her own litter of pups.


Katjinga gave the piglet the soft-puppy treatment, keeping her clean and warm. The pig clearly felt right at home, even trying to nurse—though the dog was no longer producing milk. (Roland and his family took care of feedings.) A few days later, with pig and hound getting along like mother and son, Roland discovered Paulinchen’s birth mother with the rest of her litter, all healthy. He thanked Katjinga for her service and returned the lost baby to the pig family, which eagerly accepted her.

Story and photo found here.

Sunny Side Up