How a six-pack of beer, $100 got 11 rescuers in North Texas to drag a pig out of the thorns
Here’s a little story Heide Cooper got to tell, about a fat little pig she found unwell. He was stuck in acres of thorny brush, Cooper had to ask for help in a rush. A six-pack of beer and a hundred bucks was the bounty, and 11 souls responded from all over Parker County.
Pojo is his name, and by Cooper’s telling, the saga of this 6-month-old pig has rallied her rural hamlet of Springtown into an unlikely quest.
“If you told me a week ago that I would spend all of my time taking care of a pig, I would have told you I already divorced his a** years ago, but here I am now, completely enamored and in love with another one,” she writes cheekily in a Facebook post. “He’s our hometown pig, our porkupine.”
The reference to the prickly rodent is made with pride — the town is home to the Fighting Porcupines.
It all started from a post a week ago about a pig trapped in a briar patch on the edge of town. Cooper and a friend, farmhand Jen Beal, rushed to the site, but both quickly realized the task was a pricklier fight.
So, Cooper decided to ask for help, offering a six-pack of beer and a $100 in cash.
To her delight, 11 folks responded for the fight, but it took the “pig guy,” Stephen Mock, to finally help drag the frightened animal out of its plight.
“I can’t wrap my head around how much I love a DAMNED pig,” she wrote. “How I low-crawled through a zillion briar thorns, pulling out stickers from all of my parts (not fun) and cried like a newborn baby when Stephen Mock finally got a hold of him.”
No one knew if Pojo was someone’s pet or just running free, but Cooper took him home to her animal rescue farm and fed him a mash of apples, eggs and strawberries. She takes in all creatures but dogs and cats at 5150 Farm and Rescue, which is tucked away in the far northeast corner of the county.
The pig was shaken and injured. A local veterinarian pumped Pojo with steroids, but a suspected spinal injury made things a little hairy.
“(On Valentine’s Day) Pojo didn’t want to get up and walk,” Cooper said. “My heart literally sunk to the ground where he was laying. I tried to entice him to move. He wouldn’t.”
It was heartbreaking for the woman who has devoted her life to her creatures. She plied Pojo with fruits and treats, and still he stayed down.
“I can’t believe after everything, he wasn’t going to make it,” she said. “Lord, come on man. I know that you don’t have to answer all my prayers, but this one, just this little guy please.”
Tearfully, she walked away.
Then, she said, “I looked over my shoulder and he oinked at me. I called his name, POJO, come here buddy.”
Definitely still sore but the little pig got up, sauntering over to his rescuer.
“I don’t care who you are, the power of prayer and healing hands are helping our little guy,” she said.
Pojo is now in his stall resting on a bed of straw, his every turn documented in Cooper’s Facebook posts. She is hopeful he will make it.
“Being a pig rescue person is how our town is going to remember me, blows my mind, but I will take it,” Cooper said.
This story was originally published February 21, 2024 at 8:29 AM.