From the president
January 2026
Dear Supporter,
Happy New Year and welcome to 2026 and another wonderful year with all of our wonderful pigs at Ironwood. 2025 was the Year of the Babies. This sounds like one of the Chinese New Years. Babies and youngsters have flooded the sanctuary which means you will become familiar with them as the years pass. They have all made their way to Ironwood in need of a safe home. Here they have found friends to play with, consistent good food for babies, doing zoomies in the summer wallows and now cuddling in warm blankets together telling stories, grunting softly, or shoving or jostling each other as they jockey for the best position in their shelter. They will grow up here and grow old here unless an adoptive home can be found. But as they grow up and lose their baby cuteness, they won’t be discarded like a stuffed toy as so many have been already in their first few months of life.
They come to us sometimes hopeful and innocent and sometimes absolutely terrified by the early experiences in their first months of life. In time, many begin to trust and will learn to love belly rubs and others will remain somewhat aloof and may carefully take a cookie from our hand. Here, all are welcome.
The boys have all been neutered and the girls will soon be spayed as they mature. There will be no unwanted babies to be discarded at a few months old. These girls will not have early deaths due to uterine tumors that develop later in life because they are not spayed.
It is YOU who have provided the funds necessary so we can provide for these many babies who have come to us in 2025. These innocent faces are only a few of the many babies and youngsters who have come to Ironwood in 2025. We are so hopeful that for 2026 and for years to come, these babies will never again find themselves in any of the horrific situations that brought them to us.
Sincerely,
Mary Schanz, President & CoFounder
