Have you seen Berleen?
Less than two weeks before Berleen, a 400-pound pig was scheduled to travel to a farm animal sanctuary in Manitoba, she disappeared from the farm where she had been staying in the Cowichan Valley.
Berleen’s trip to Kismet Creek Farm in Steinbach, Manitoba, where she would have lived out her days happily, was scheduled for Aug. 22, but she suddenly vanished from Lee Schroeder’s property in Cobble Hill earlier this week.
“The property is fully fenced,” Schroeder said. “I have checked all the fences and there’s no place she could get out. I have a feeling someone has stolen her from the property.”
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Schroeder developed an attachment to Berleen and is worried about her.
“She is such a sweetheart, loves cuddles, and it was arranged that she would be going to [Manitoba] to live out the rest of her life there. I miss her so much. My husband Wayne Clark and I would like to see her back and then she could go to her forever home where pigs need to be and not eaten.”
Berleen has a birthmark on the right side of her face and a fatty lump about the size of the palm of a hand on her upper backside.
A local farmer had surrendered Berleen to Schroeder earlier this year while PEACE (People Ensuring Animal Care Exists) searched for a no-kill home for her. There wasn’t any room at sanctuaries in B.C. or Alberta at the time, so PEACE expanded the search to Manitoba, where they found a home at Kismet Creek. She was set to travel there with other animals later this month.
“Because it’s a long trip, we needed time to plan for it,” PEACE co-founder and president Sarien Slabbert explained.
According to Slabbert, Berleen is an infertile sow, which in most cases would have meant she was destined for slaughter, but the farmer who owned her didn’t want that to happen, which is why she was surrendered to Schroeder.
In a Facebook post, Kismet Creek Farm also expressed its dismay at Berleen’s disappearance.
“We are devastated that she’s gone missing and we are hoping she will be found safe so she can get the happy ending she deserves,” the sanctuary said.
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