Baby pig ’swag’: Stupid even by Hollywood standards
By Gina Spadafori
January 16, 2010
From the L.A. Times celebrity crap I don’t care about blog:
At a suite this week run by gifting guru GBK Productions, Globe nominees and presenters are expected to receive swag including trips and electronics. They will also receive truffle salt and truffle oil. To highlight the truffly goodness, GBK has also partnered with a company called Patty’s Royal Dandie Miniature Pet Pig, which breeds tiny pet pigs, to offer the animals as yet another gift.
The pet pigs usually sell for about $5,000, the suite people tell me, but the visiting celebrities would be able to get one for free. All they’d have to do is complete a one-hour course on how to treat the li’l porkers and present a certificate of completion. The tiny pig will then be hand-delivered to the celebrity.
Here’s the rest. Yes, all the animal advocacy groups are appalled, and rightfully so. Wouldn’t it be great if some of these fluffy headed idiots started modeling responsible behavior for a change?
That is so totally NOT kosher.
Comment by David S. Greene — January 16, 2010 @ 5:30 pm
Paging Paris Hilton….
Comment by FrogDogz — January 16, 2010 @ 6:19 pm
Oh, look. She already owns one. Doesn’t that just figure? On the plus side, when she gets sick of this pet, she can just eat it, rather than leaving it behind in a hotel room.
Comment by FrogDogz — January 16, 2010 @ 6:21 pm
I’ve seen mention, in passing over the years, that the only way to keep these ‘micro’ pigs that this person claims to produce at the sizes she claims is to intentionally underfeed them and stunt their growth.
No idea as to the validity of that, but if it is true it adds a whole ‘nother level of suck to the equation.
Comment by Erin S. — January 16, 2010 @ 6:52 pm
Beyond stupid. Ranks right down there with the B and C list celebrities who hook their wagons to PETA for the free publicity, obviously without investigating the organization.
Comment by Social Mange — January 16, 2010 @ 7:34 pm
Thought about it and a good way to indicate disapproval is to not watch the Golden Globes, and let the Foreign Press Association and the network know why.
They’re after eyeballs on the show because it boosts their advertising rates. Let them know that the eyeballs won’t be there.
Comment by Social Mange — January 16, 2010 @ 7:43 pm
I never used to put much stock in that “stunt your growth” thing.
Until we saw that the young adult dogs and pups from Operation New Beginnings were all around 25-35 pounds (normal size for the breed and bloodlines 35-65 pounds), while the pups born in custody were normal sized — some even big bruisers. These pups’ dams are tiny things, and they were only fed adequately for the last weeks of their pregnancies, and they were able to raise and nurse normal pups.
Pups that were 4-6 weeks old when seized have never attained normal size, despite being fed well from that point on. The are as tiny as the young dogs that were hungry from conception to adulthood.
So they could be stunting these piggies by starving their moms and keeping them starved while nursing. It seems to do the trick.
They say it’s genetic. The “Dandie Extremes” are “ten generations smaller” than their other undersized pigs. (Or seven generations, depending on which page your read.) That’s a bit like making the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs.
Comment by H. Houlahan — January 16, 2010 @ 7:49 pm
This is just so wrong for multiple reasons ! A pig is a living ,feeling creature ! Not an item in a gift bag !
Comment by Leslie K — January 16, 2010 @ 8:56 pm
I bet Paris has more than one of these, crazy…
Comment by Laurie — January 16, 2010 @ 9:36 pm
Oy!
yah, not kosher at all.
what a dumb-ass idea.
Even if these guys stay small, pigs need to be in homes where someone really wants a smart, active, destructive, inquisitive pig for the next 12-14 years, not a novelty.
Comment by JenniferJ — January 16, 2010 @ 10:02 pm
David S. Greene, you are a “ham”, saying it is not Kosher.
Anyways, I think pigs are intelligent creatures and the treatment of pigs this way is bad, bad, and more bad!
Comment by Evelyn — January 17, 2010 @ 8:35 am
I did not mean to hurt your feelings, David, and I should have resisted the urge to use the pun at your expense. Forgiveness, please?
Comment by Evelyn — January 17, 2010 @ 8:43 am
NYC recently received Chi’s from LA because they had so many. Are we to expect micro piggies next?
Comment by straybaby — January 17, 2010 @ 9:54 am
It’s totally ok, Evelyn. I’m used to being the (pork) butt of jokes, and getting ribbed a lot. I don’t think it’s necessary to engage in a lot of mudslinging, but while everyone’s at the trough it’s bound to happen on occasion.
Comment by David S. Greene — January 17, 2010 @ 1:45 pm
As the owner of a pig(feral, not trendy at all), pigs are very interesting to keep.
So when someone who’s taken the one hour class-with certificate!-comes home to a house turned upsidedown I wonder what they’ll do? Not to mention the tusks…..
Comment by rheather — January 17, 2010 @ 1:51 pm
Thanks, David, for your forgiveness.
I hear mud baths can be therapeutic so that might account of the upside of mudslinging.
Anyway, the pigs are no stranger to mud, so there must be some benefit the activity.
Comment by Evelyn — January 17, 2010 @ 3:00 pm
The next fad pets. This is good for bulldogs and chihuahuas, which have already reached their zenith.
I remember when the “Normal” pot-bellies were the thing to have. There were tons of them sold. They were often fed dog food, and some got so fat that the fat rolls covered up their eyes.
The other pet to watch out for is the revived interest in African hedgehogs (four-toed and Algerian hedgehog hybrids) as pets for celebrities to carry around in their pockets.
Comment by retrieverman — January 18, 2010 @ 10:06 am
The other pet to watch out for is the revived interest in African hedgehogs (four-toed and Algerian hedgehog hybrids) as pets for celebrities to carry around in their pockets.
Comment by retrieverman — January 18, 2010
Not in Hollywood, they won’t. Hedgehogs are illegal in CA, along with ferrets and quaker parakeets (among others).
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 18, 2010 @ 10:21 am
GBK has released the following statement:
In addressing animal activist concerns, GBK assures that no pigs were actually given out at the suite and any further interested parties need to be vetted and complete an in-home visit and training session. GBK supports many animal organizations and looks forward to continuing to growing those relationships. Furthermore, GBK will send out organizational materials from SPCLA, Best Friends and PETA to any interested parties.
Comment by GBK Productions — January 18, 2010 @ 2:59 pm
Dear GBK,
Do you really think that makes it better? Organizational material from PETA?
Animals are not gift bag items, you freaking stupid bling-pushers. Especially not speshul hyper-bred “miniature” farm animals produced by a pig factory looking to make a ton o’ dough pushing the next big thing in throwaway pets. (Ref: The big California Chihuahua debacle, thanks to people like you and the “celebrity” twits you ass-kiss, like Paris Hilton.)
Shame on you. And shame on you thinking you’ve fixed the problem with some “organizational material” from an organization every bit as about celebrity-driven nonsense as yours. As for “vetting” — one hour of care instructions per your original “explanation”? Hard to believe, I know, but many people spend years trying to learn how to care for their animals.
Did I miss the part where you said you made a mistake and won’t do it again? Oops, guess not.
Idiots. Shameless, greed-head idiots.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 19, 2010 @ 7:12 am
Gina, you GO GRRRRL!!!
There was a special on quite a few months ago, some celebrity magazine on the TeeVee about these pigs, from overseas I think. The proud breeder was explaining how to get on her waiting list (about 2 years) and to reserve a piglet, it would only cost a few grand.
She was a breeder of miniatures in a lot of species.
Had a list of celeb clients that had shown interest.
I didn’t think much of it until this post.
Comment by Linda Kaim — January 19, 2010 @ 9:29 am
Retrieverman, I think, in theory, the fact that hedgehogs can only be sold by folks with a USDA exotics license MAY help- at the very least, you can report BYBs of ‘em.
Comment by Cait — January 19, 2010 @ 10:59 am
Well when the heck are PEOPLE going to be required to take a course before they go and have kids? I find it admirable that this pig company would even take that length of caution. I think the entire human race could learn a lesson from them. But noooo…. we’re free to have children, throw them in the dumpster, sell them off, abuse them, and then take no responsibility when the child grows up to be a monster. Let’s post an article on how generally stupid and selfish our entire government and human race…
Comment by Stephanie — January 21, 2010 @ 10:34 pm