THE PIGFATHER’S MINIATURE PIGS: ABOUT US

Welcome to The Pigfather Ltd. We are a family owned and run company with love towards all animals, big and small! The idea for The Pigfather ltd was born in 2017 when we were considering adding Miniature pigs as pets to our home. As a qualified Veterinary Nurse as well as a Human Nurse with decades of experience working with both animals and people in a wide variety of settings, Natasha’s dream of training animals for therapy suddenly started to become a reality. Natasha’s husband Shaun had wanted to own a Miniature Pig for many years and together, we created The Pigfather ltd – the name based on the Oscar winning film “The Godfather”! Our first Miniature Pigs are named after the actors in the film.

We are truly passionate about training Miniature Pigs for Therapy so that as many people as possible can benefit from this amazing therapeutic interaction with these very intelligent and cute animals. Having become the UK’s first and only company to train Miniature Pigs to a certified Therapy Miniature Pig status, we are extremely proud of our achievements and consider ourselves the industry leaders when it comes to pig training, having now developed our own pig training programme. Our efforts have already been widely recognised with many Big Brands, TV and Media companies expressing an interest in hiring our pigs for their PR campaigns and photoshoots.

Our Services include Miniature Pig hire for Private and Corporate Parties and Events, Public events and appearances, School/Nursery educational and fun visits, Weddings/Hen parties and Receptions, Private and Corporate Therapy Visits, TV and Media Campaigns as well as Borrow My Piggy Experience. In addition, we have a small number of Miniature Pig litters for sale every year as family pets.

The Pigfather ltd is still very much in its early years with so many plans and aspirations for the future. By booking our services you are helping us achieve a lifelong dream of many more people benefiting from our Therapy Miniature Pigs for years to come! Thank you for showing an interest in our company and we look forward to working with you!

Read our Story: https://www.thepigfather.co.uk/piggy-pet-story

The Pigfather ltd is the First company in the UK to have miniature pigs trained under a Mini Pig Therapy Pet Certification Programme accredited by the AMPA!

Meet Our Team

Bubbles Corleone

Bubbles is our young stud boar! The son of Polly and Romeo, Bubbles has the most amazing gentle temperament, mainly because of which he stayed with us in this capacity. He also has an unusual coat colour – when he was a young piglet he was stripey like a baby boar and has now developed a beautiful rich auburn colour! Bubbles is also a very small framed piggy, taking after both of this parents, who are among our smalles pigs. We love him to bits and can’t wait to see his piglets one day when he is older.

Ollie Corleone

I am an adorable little pig and I was born here on The Pigfather’s farm. You can see my Dadda Romeo below when he was a piglet himself! It is wonderful to be the centre of everyone’s attention – being so cute is definitely my advantage and I must say I get away with many naughty things! Apart from being cute, I am actually a very loving gentle piggy and I hope one day I will be a proud daddy myself and pass my gentle nature to my babies!

Popcorn Corleone

Hello! I am Popcorn, a new baby boy on the block! My twin brother Biscuit and I are “Double Trouble”! We have very similar markings and even my mamma had trouble getting our names right at first!

I love running around my cosy outdoor pen and occasionally bump into Busicuit who then starts running away from me, it’s a Piglet’s version of “It”! I love it.

Apart from my chasing games I do love cuddles with the children and my human mamma. Nothing beats curling up on someone’s lap and falling asleep being wrapped in a warm blanket. Oh, my new adventures have began!

Did you know that i have a rare quality – I smell of Maple Syrup! Apparently, due to a genetic variation, some piggies have this amazing scent and I am lucky to be one of those rare ones! My family doesn’t complain!

I have been a star in a recent Hendrics Gin Promotional Video! Find our more…

More pictures of me and my twin can be found on The Gallery page. Happy viewing!

Holly Corleone

Holly is our recent addition to the Corleone family. Being our smallest piglet, she weighs just 8 kg at the age of 12 months! But she certainly makes up for it by her brave spirit! She lovels her twin sister Polly despite the occasional argument, and together they take Rumfield on!

Holly is a very busy young lady travelling from party to party and enjoying all the attention and tummy scratches she can get! It’s a tiring job being a party piglet!

She has been a star in a recent promotional video for LAD Bible! More details coming soon!

Michael Corleone

My name is Michael Corleone, but they call me “Mikey” for short. Although I do not come from Sicily I love my healthy Mediterranean diet and the sun on my back, whenever we get it in this rainy country of ours.

Loving nothing more than cuddles and belly scratches, tasty treats are my other favourite. I love making people feel happy and if you contact my daddy, I will personally make sure he makes you an offer you cannot refuse!

Together with the rest of the mafia pigs, I will be frequently featuring on social media, so you can always follow what I get up to on all my adventures; have a happy browsing! I turned 2 years old in January 2020!

Connie Corleone

My name is Connie Corleone and I am a very gentle piggy and I love my two brothers, Mikey and Sunny, who keep me company and give me protection.

I love to chase Sunny when he is munching on his favourite treats which gives him much-needed exercise! I am the luckiest girl in the family as all the boys simply adore me, especially Mr Rumfield and Romeo!

Mr Rumfield

Hello, I am Mr Rumfield, or “Chubby” for short, an 83kg Great Swiss Mountain Dog. In my spare time I love to chase foxes, but when I am working my duties include making sure that I eat first and to keep an eye on those naughty little piglets as well as Mikey, Sunny and Connie, which I have mastered by having eyes at the back of my head. Above all, I love Friday nights when I sit with my daddy by the couch and we share a delicious kebab! Yum, Yum! Can’t wait for the weekend.

P.S. I turned 4  in November 2019! Where does the time go! 

Natasha (Director) – My Qualifications

• MSc Horticulture (Crop Production Technology and Global Trade) (Merit)
• Dip (HE) Adult Nursing (Foundation Degree) (Senior GP Practice Sister)
• BTEC First Diploma Small Animal Care (Distinction)
• BTEC National Diploma Farm and Exotic Animal Care (Distinction)
• RCVS Diploma Veterinary Nursing (Qualified Veterinary Nurse) (Distinction)
• SPCT Diploma Diabetes Management
• SPCT Diploma Asthma and COPD Management
• AMPA Certificate Miniature Pig Therapy Pet Training
• LHH Certificate Homeopathy in Primary Care
• SPCT Certificate Health Care Assistant
• SPCT Certificate Childhood Immunisations
• SPCT Certificate Travel Health
• SPCT Certificate Ear Health and Syringing
• SPCT Certificate Women’s Health and Cervical Cytology
• SPCT Certificate Cardiac Care and ECG
• SPCT Certificate Wound Management and Doppler Ultrasound
• SPCT Certificate in Palliative Care
• RHS Certificates (Level 2, Level 3) Horticulture, Planning and Construction, Garden Design and Propagation

My Animal Background

Growing up I was always surrounded by the love of my pets and from a very young age I already knew that I wanted to work with animals. Later on I trained for 3 years at Bicton College of Agriculture and was awarded two BTEC Diplomas, in Small Animal Care and in Farm and Exotic Animal Care on Distinction. I had life changing experiences working on a variety of farms (commercial outdoor pig rearing farm, Great Potheridge farm, lambing and fostering lambs, and a dairy farm), Wood Green Animal Shelters, West Midlands Safari Park and Cotsworld Wildlife Park, London Zoo Reptile House, kennels and catteries across the country as well as the RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre and the Cornish Seal Sanctuary.

I then decided to study further and trained for 2 years at Berkshire College of Agriculture and became a RCVS certified Veterinary Nurse. However, due to the changes in my personal circumstances, after 10 years of working in several veterinary clinics and hospitals across the country caring for domestic and wild animals, I enrolled onto DipHE Adult Nursing at Kingston University working part-time as an agency Health Care Assistant in nursing and elderly homes, hospitals, hospices and homes for people with learning difficulties. However, I continued working as a Qualified Veterinary Nurse part time.

The Nursing Background

Having re-trained as an Adult Nurse, I initially worked in the community looking after house bound patients, and later became a Practice Nurse-Seniour Sister, managing patients with various health problems. I completed a Diploma in Diabetes Management in Primary Care and received a number of other Diplomas and Certificates in Child Immunisations, Asthma and COPD Management, Travel Health and Women’s Health, Palliative and Cardiac Care. Seeing a lot of distress on a daily basis, I realised that it was simple things in life that made a big difference to how people felt. Kind words, holding someone’s hand and spending a few minutes listening to them, was better medicine than drugs for many people and this is what made me truly happy. I was also interested in Complimentary Therapies and gained a Certificate in Homeopathy in Primary Care at London Homeopathic Hospital and used this knowledge to help my patients.

My children were born a few years and as I always loved learning I continued to study, concentrating on the environment and nature. I successfully completed several RHS Certificates in horticulture, planning and construction and garden design at levels 2 and 3 (Merrist Wood College, Kingston College and ADL college) and in 2017 I graduated from Writtle University College with a Master’s Degree in Crop Production (Arable and Horticultural), Technology and Global Trade with a Merit.

These studies enabled me to understand that there is an important relationship between the environment and the health of both people and animals. Respect of natural resources and of animals can bring great benefits to the society and health of our nation as a whole with sustainable management of ecosystems of land being paramount for the health of both crops and livestock……

But most importantly, I realised that I wanted to go back to work full time alongside animals again and bring happiness and joy to all those in need of love and laughter and I sincerely hope that my life experiences and qualifications can enhance this journey. I have now been working with animals for over 27 years.

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