“BORROW MY PIGGY” SERVICE OVERVIEW
“Borrow My Piggy” is a completely unique and new service from The Pigfather ltd offering an amazing cost effective opportunity to keep our two miniature piglets in your home, school or a care facility for 1.5 days (36 hours) to a week! Following a huge demand from our existing customer base, we have decided to extend this New Service to the wider public.
Have you ever wanted to cuddle a piglet in your own house but do not actually wish to give them a permanent home? Or, perhaps, you have always dreamed of owning one but have been put off by the myths that surround keeping pigs or the lack of knowledge on how to look after these animals? Then, “Borrow My Piggy” could be exactly what you need!
Over the past year many of our customers have told us that they were keen on keeping miniature pigs as pets but did not know where to start and what this would involve. Purchasing any pet is a big responsibility and this is especially true when it comes to owning a pet piggy. Mini pigs, sometimes often referred to as Micro pigs, are considered Farm Animals by law and are, therefore, protected by several pieces of European and British Legislation. These must be understood and followed in order to keep them as pets.
The main aim of this Service is to inform potential piglet buyers of their responsibilities and the pros and cons of owning a pet pig along with enabling our customers to have the most amazing mini pig bonding time! Contrary to popular beliefs, miniature pigs are not like dogs and cats, in fact, they are very different in their behaviour and needs. We believe that “Borrow My Piggy” will provide an invaluable personal experience and insight into pig ownership and hopefully, improve the quality of piglets’ lives in the long term by reducing impulsive piglet purchases.
Schools and care homes can also benefit by encouraging empathy and caring attitude towards the piggys without the need to purchase their own animals.
BENEFITS OF “BORROW MY PIGGY” SERVICE
There are many benefits of “Borrow My Piggy” Service. As Miniature piglets are very cute and intelligent they are becoming more popular as a choice of pet. Like any other pet, they require love and commitment to prevent them from becoming unwanted and ending up in a shelter. Having looked after your “borrowed” piglets, you would be in the best position to decide if a miniature pig ownership is really for you. There is no better experience that compares with looking after a pet of your dreams in your own house before you decide to give it a permanent home.
The benefits of “Borrow My Piggy” also extend to financial savings. Firstly, if your decision is not to own miniature piglets in the future, you would have saved at least a £1,000 by using this service on the initial set up costs. This will be discussed in a bit more detail below. Secondly, “Borrow My Piggy” would essentially enable you to hire our miniature piglets for several hours, making you large savings compared to when they are hired on an hourly basis. To increase the benefits and value for your money, you could coincide the piglets’ arrival with an important event such as a Private Party, Christening or even just a family get together, so that everyone could enjoy spending time with the piglets.
At certain times of the year and depending on availability, we will also offer an opportunity to purchase some of our piglets at a 50% discount from the usual purchase price by those who have used “Borrow My Piggy” Service, making it a truly cost effective option.
To add to the above benefits, “Borrow My Piggy” Service will offer our customers a unique opportunity of interacting with miniature pigs who will all be undergoing an AMPA Certified Therapy Pig Training Course, making them likely the most socialised and trained pigs in the UK. We are the first UK Company to train our pigs to this standard.
WHAT DOES “BORROW MY PIGGY” OFFER?
What does this service offer? “Borrow My Piggy” provides a uniquely valuable experience of looking after our two mini piglets for 1.5 days (36 hours) or a week in your own home. We will provide everything the piglets would require for their stay with you including a pen and a small house, the food, hay and straw for bedding, water bowl and other small items for the duration of their stay. A comprehensive Mini Pig Care Guide will also be provided explaining how to look after your pet piggy and make them happy whilst they are living with you. On arrival at your home or school we will also give you an educational talk outlining all aspects of pig ownership and care that were mentioned in the Mini Pig Care Guide – a short Miniature Pig Keeping Course – that will give you confidence in looking after your “borrowed” pigs.
During these days you will be able to spend an unlimited amount of time with your newly “borrowed pet”, learning first-hand what it takes to have a miniature pig as a pet. In addition, we will be available for advice during this time, by phone or email, should you need to ask us about any aspect of their care or if you are unsure of anything.
The Mini Piglets we offer for “Borrow My Piggy” Service will be under 1 year of age and can be of any colour; they would be health checked and would arrive clean and healthy. The piglets will be carefully chosen for their temperament to ensure that, prior to their visit to you, they have been well socialised, handled and accustomed to being inside a home and around children.
Growing up with our own children adds a big advantage to all our piglets’ socialisation skills as they get to spend a lot of time with the children indoors, are handled and trained daily and start to learn good manners. All our piglets beginning from a young age undergo a thorough Therapy Pet Training programme lasting for many months which enables them to become well-adjusted and good mannered piggies in the future.
REDUCING IMPULSIVE MINI PIG PURCHASES
Nothing beats a personal experience of looking after an animal when making a decision whether to keep that type of animal as a pet or not. “Borrow My Piggy” provides an unrivalled experience to enable our customers to make an informed and responsible decision about pig ownership before they decide to fully commit themselves to providing a forever home to a mini pig. We hope that this will also prevent impulsive purchases on important calendar days such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, Father’s Day or Birthdays.
If you decided that pig ownership is not right for you and you would not be able to care for the animals long term, given your newly acquired experience, then you could save those animals from becoming unwanted or neglected ending up in a pig shelter in the future. It is also important to remember that, although young miniature piglets look adorable and cuddly, they all grow up and will not stay “tea cup” size as some people still believe.
Not so long ago, media played a big role in this, with cute pictures of “micro”/”tea cup” pigs being held by celebrities flooding the front pages of magazines and newspapers. Some of these “micro” pigs were in fact piglets of large traditional farm breeds or their crosses and grew to huge sizes. Having said that, there were a few genuine breeders of miniature pigs in the UK who over several generations did manage to breed smaller sized pigs, much shorter in height and lighter in weight than the farm breeds. These pigs were called Miniature Pigs and most grow to below knee size in height, although, due to their anatomical structure, they tend to be heavier than a dog of similar size.
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF “BORROW MY PIGGY”
By using “Borrow My Piggy” service you would save money on the initial purchase costs, if, following your experience, you decided that you do not wish to keep a miniature pig as a pet. “Trying before you buy” can save you a lot of money on the set up costs of buying two or more miniature pigs, their feed, straw, hay, bowls, clothes, toys, harnesses and the costs of building a secure outdoor pen, which could all amount to at least a couple of thousands of pounds, which you would be spending upfront before the arrival of your miniature pigs. Being aware of financial responsibilities of caring for piglets will guide you in making the right decision for your family.
However, if you enjoyed looking after the piglets and wish to purchase your own one day, you may decide to purchase them from us. Sometimes, we have piglets for sale and we will offer a 50% discount on piglets for those who have used the “Borrow My Piggy” Service. We would always sell two piglets together as a pair as the piggies are very sociable animals and prefer the company of their own kind; they would not be happy living alone or even with another species such as a dog or a cat.
In addition, the service gives you an amazing opportunity to “show off” the piggies to all your friends and family by inviting them over for when the piggies come and visit you! It is also a very cost effective option if you have always wanted to rent a piggy for your Birthday Party, Engagement, a Hen Do or any other private event. With “Borrow My Piggy” you would be able to have the piglets in your home for many hours and make great savings compared to hiring them at an hourly rate.
Furthermore, having used this service, you would have gained valuable practical experience of looking after miniature pigs in your own property, something that is hard to find before purchasing. Included will be your FREE comprehensive Mini Pig Care Guide as well as a short Miniature Pig Keeping Course offered as part of the package on our arrival to drop off the piglets at your property.
In summary, by purchasing “Borrow My Piggy Service” you will get to borrow two miniature piglets from 1.5 days (36 hours) to a week, all equipment set up for you at your premises, a FREE Comprehensive Mini Pig Care Guide and a FREE short Miniature Pig Keeping Course. This amazing offer extends to 50% discount on the purchase of piglets, depending on their availability and time of year, only for those who have used this service.
WHAT ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITES?
When you book “Borrow My Piggy” service you agree to comply with all our Terms and Conditions, which will be emailed to you upon receipt of your deposit. As well as the General Terms and Conditions to ensure safety to you and our animals and to help you have a very special and safe time with our piglets. These Terms and Conditions also include Risk Assessment to help you identify potential risks in relation to your home and how these could be minimised.
The Terms and Conditions have been developed in consultation and compliance with all the relevant Farm Animal Welfare regulations as well as Health and Safety Guidelines and need to be followed closely. Children and adults with special needs must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times to ensure that they follow our guidelines on handling, feeding and treating the piglets. All your guests/friends and family members who would come into contact with the piglets during their stay with you must be instructed on these Terms and Conditions.
If these are not followed, the animals can get stressed and behave abnormally. Any animal, no matter how well trained, socialised or friendly it is under normal circumstances, can become stressed in certain situations if their needs are not properly met or if an animal is mistreated or forced to do something they do not want to do. In such situations animals can resort to biting in defence because they may feel frightened. To prevent such behaviour from occurring, our Terms and Conditions and all our prior written and verbal advice must be followed closely.
An equipment check list will also be emailed to you along with the Terms and Conditions. Please, look after this equipment and ensure it is returned to us undamaged.
Upon receipt of the deposit, a detailed Miniature Pig Care Guide will be emailed to you, together with these Terms and Conditions which also include the Risk Assessment. Please, read these carefully to ensure you have a good understanding of the points.
By paying the remainder of your Invoice before the piglets’ arrival at your premises, you confirm that you have read, understood and will comply with all the points of these Terms.
BOOKING “BORROW MY PIGGY” SERVICE
Please, email us for prices, availability and to check whether we cover your area. Following an increased interest in hiring our piggies from further afield, we have extended the areas which we cover.
Once you are happy to go ahead, using the Contact us form, please, provide us with your full name, address, including the post code, and your preferred booking date and time. Could you also specify if you have parking arrangements such as a parking permit. If the parking is not free, we would add this to the total bill. We would also add any Congestion/ULEZ/Toll charges to the total price if applicable.
Be advised that the piglets drop off will take place between 12noon and 4pm, outside of rush hour times to reduce the travel time as much as possible. Weekends and school holidays are the best times for the piglets’ drop off so that you can maximise the time spent with them. If you require other drop off times, please, advise us, but there will be an out of hours’ fee added to the total price.
The pick-up time will happen either 36 hours or a week later, depending on what service you purcased. Drop off and pick up times will be agreed well in advance. If you wish to change the drop off time, we need to be informed no later than 24 hours before the planned time.
PAYMENT
To discuss our prices and areas of service, please, contact us. We cover an extended area from London, South West, South East and Midlands. There may be a distance fee, we will advise you if this is applicable to your booking once we know your post code. If there are Congestion/ULEZ/Toll or parking charges, we will add them to the total booking price.
A non-refundable deposit of 25% of the total cost of “Borrow My Piggy” Service is required upfront to secure your preferred date if you wish the piglets to arrive at longer than a week’s notice. The balance of the Invoice will need to be settled two weeks prior to the booking date. Please, bear in mind that we cannot offer you the date before receiving your deposit, and could allocate this to another customer who pays the deposit. We will always inform you of our decision.
If you wish to book the service within a week of your preferred piglets’ arrival date, the full amount must then be settled as soon as possible before we can book the date for you.
Our preferred method of payment is via BACS transfer; we will send our bank details over upon receipt of your confirmation email to go ahead with the service. You will also receive an Invoice for your records.
CURCUMSTANCES WHEN “BORROW MY PIGGY SERVICE MAY NOT BE PROVIDED
Although it is our warmest wish to provide this unique service to benefit as many people as possible, there are some circumstances where we will not be able to do so. Below are some examples:
- If you have other farm animals on your land (this includes llamas, alpacas, sheep, goats, cattle or other pigs; but this does not include horses, donkeys or ponies)
- If you live in a flat or house without access to your own private garden
- If you are immune compromised (i.e. receiving medication to suppress your immune system or following chemotherapy or other drug therapy making your immune system weaker). We advise that you contact the health professional in charge of your care for advice before booking “Borrow My Piggy” Service.
I haven’t being in a more nurturing environment for pigs and visitors! The pigs are adorable and great looking! They even smell like coconut! An amazing experience! My boys loved it and I found it very clean, peaceful, fun and welcoming environment to anyone to enjoy it.
The piglets were adorable and the children loved meeting them (especially scratching their tummies). A very professional service and great fun for a party. Thank you
The Pig Father team are absolutely amazing and their family of piggies are simply the best. Knowing the pigs are part of the family makes it so easy to recommend the team as they are literally loved like children.
