At most nursing homes, therapy animals take their turns spending time with the residents. Typically these creatures are either dogs or cats. However, not in South Florida!
Blue, the pot-bellied pig is a certified therapy animal who spends time with seniors living at the South Beach Gardens. Not only does Blue spend her time making other people happy, but she is also an Instagram star as well as a well-dressed pig.
Jaharia Zamora-Duran told the Huffington Post that “The nursing home residents and even the nurses just LOVE her. All we see are smiles and all we hear is ‘You just made my day!’ Everyone’s eyes light up when we walk in and they just can’t believe it’s a pig.”
Most of the time, residents just like to spend time with Blue. Sometimes the little pig enjoys playing the “piano” for her guests.
Zamora-Duran went on the tell HuffPost that “It’s amazing how much blue is drawn to the people at the nursing home, it is as if she just knows that they need her.”
Going about finding a therapy certification for a pig was not an easy task. However, from a young age, Zamora-Duran noticed how sweet Blue’s personality was and how she noticed human emotions. According to the Huffington Post, “not all organizations certify pugs, and the process involves online training by the owner and a health screening, and thorough behavior evaluation for the animal.”
Pigs are very smart creatures, but they need to have time invested in them to learn how to properly train and to keep their minds busy. If not, they can be rather “destructive and aggressive” due to boredom.
Whenever Blue is learning a new trick, her mom makes sure she is dressed up properly for her routines. In each Instagram post on @bluethepigofficial, she is dressed to the nines! She does not seem to mind always looking fabulous.
Sarah is a Hufflepuff living in NYC. When she is not traveling or talking to random animals, she is working as a script writer. Tweet her at @lumpyspacederp