Hi, I’m Laura, and I do a little bit of everything at the Enchanted Pig Forest.  From wellness, to dinner—setting up temporary neighborhoods, winterizing cabins, helping to get folks to the vet, leading volunteer workdays, curating SNOUT ART shows—I do whatever needs doing.  I also handle a good portion of our community outreach and off-site event coordination. 

I’ve worked with animals since high school.  I’ve volunteered with with cats, dogs, mobile and low cost spay/neuter clinics, animal triage centers after Hurricane Katrina, and I even assisted in the care of over 300 exotic birds after authorities seized them from a hoarder.  During college, I interned for an international animal organization.  I met my first pigs during that internship, one of whom was Priscilla, a potbelly piglet, who came to us through animal control after a police raid in a downtown DC apartment.  Priscilla was terrified of people, but after patience and kindness, she eventually began taking pieces of sweet potato from my hand.   

I came to CTPR during the pandemic, as a way to be with animals and people in a safe, outdoors way.  I was in love the moment I stepped on site.  Pigs are so smart and hilarious.  They very much have a unique sense of humor that I haven’t seen in other animals.  They are fiercely loyal to their families (birth and chosen) and always have each other’s backs.  My heart breaks thinking of the cavalier cruelty imposed on thousands of pigs daily, but just as the animals who call it home, I too seek repose in the Enchanted Pig Forest, a place that provides love, compassion and sanctuary.

When I’m not at the Enchanted Pig Forest, I work as an intellectual property paralegal, and I enjoy music, drawing and spending time with my dogs and cats.

Follow Laura: @lilypadthai