October 4, 2021

In 2009 an adorable three-month-old pink piglet was brought onto campus and into our lives. Anytime a new animal comes to the Museum, they need to be quarantined and that is how Auggie, all 22 pounds of him, found himself in the bear house, separated of course, with some much larger and more furry housemates.

From his first days on campus, Auggie stole the hearts of the staff and our visitors. Auggie lived in the Farmyard with Miss Piggy and delighted those who met him with his spunky attitude.

Auggie enjoyed the water in more ways than one, from laying in their pool to drinking warm water during the winter months, it was a good bet that if you had water Auggie wasn’t going to be far behind. Auggie loved belly rubs, watermelon, and getting his snoot extra dirty foraging for snacks that the Animal Care staff hid for him.

On Monday Auggie began acting strange and was not eating. On Wednesday his veterinarian, Dr. Mozzachio, was on campus to administer medicine and acupuncture. By Friday when he had not improved as much as we would have liked he was taken to North Carolina State University’s Veterinary Hospital. They performed a CT scan that showed a large inoperable mass in his gastrointestinal tract. Given the mass’s location, Auggie’s age, and his overall condition we made the difficult decision to euthanize him at the hospital.

Loving an animal comes with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. When we make the choice to bring an animal into our lives we know that there is a good chance that we will outlive them, we give them unconditional love and care and in return, they fill our lives in indescribable amounts of joy.

The animals at the Museum are special because they are loved by hundreds of staff members and volunteers and thousands of visitors. While losing an animal is extremely difficult, we take comfort that his 12 years with us were filled with happy squeals and even happier memories. Auggie was a special one and he will be dearly missed by all.

As Charlotte would say, he was “some pig.”