Dedicated To preventing suffering

All animals deserve to depart our world with respect, dignity, and compassion. So many equines are left to languish or end up at slaughter auctions, unwanted as they age. Many are suffering from untreated injuries, tumors, and other maladies. Here at Hoof and Halo your horse will receive the best care and love until the end. 

We have a firmly held belief that there are things much worse for horses to endure than euthanasia. We aim to provide the highest level of palliative and/or hospice care until it is determined by our vet that their quality of life is no longer there. When that time comes, we will provide them a painless and respectful euthanasia surrounded by love. 

We pride ourselves on the care of the animals who will soon be leaving us and have facilities capable of properly housing horses and other farm animals in any condition. As a large animal veterinary assistant, Kathy is trained to follow all veterinary directives and is capable of wound and degenerative condition management. We intend to have space for up to 5 equines in our hospice pasture at any given time, with, at minimum, monthly checkups with a veterinarian.

The misinformation surrounding mini pigs has reached near epidemic proportions and the ones who suffer for it are the pigs themselves. Well-meaning people buy into the lie that a healthy minipig will stay under  50-60lbs, but that is impossible without a cruelly controlled “diet”, sometimes as little as 1/4 cup of food once or twice a day. These starving piglets are often too young to leave their mom in the first place. Once they are no longer tiny, adorable babies or inevitably become destructive or “too loud” trying to soothe their hunger pains, many are ignored, neglected, discarded, or worse. Due to the chronic malnutrition, many do not survive past the age of 5 years old.

The key to saving these precious animals is education and to begin dispelling the many myths about pigs as well as showing how wonderful they really are. 

In addition to our personal pig, Albert Swinestein, we currently have 6 pig residents. We also rescued another pig who was so neglected and malnourished he needed more intense one-on-one care and was fostered with my mom, Sally. She fell in love with him, and he is now a much-loved forever member of her household. Most of our pigs are owner surrenders and two came to us via Washoe County Regional Animal Services where they were picked up as strays on separate occasions. 

Our goal is to expand and permanently house up to 10 pigs at our sanctuary.