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Sam

On February 2021, Sam found her new and forever home at Melief Animal Sanctuary in Germany. Here, she finally became someone. Before her rescue, she was ‘just’ a number in the meat industry, bred to serve as a breeding machine for over 9 years. In those 9 years, she gave birth to 240 piglets. Her first impregnation was at the age of 6 months. She never had a chance to see her babies grow, nor mother them.

At some point, pregnant Sam was bound for slaughter since she was already an older pig, and ‘her’ farmer had too many pregnant sows for which space was running short. But a serendipity of events brought her to Melief Animal Sanctuary instead.

Call it luck. Call it faith. One way or the other, Sam became the one who got away and whose story will feature in the documentary My Mom Sam in honor of her, her history, her future, her babies and the 1.5 billion pigs that are slaughtered worldwide each year.

Sam passed away on November 20th 2023 peacefully and loved, held by her carers and surrounded by her children. In the three years she lived at Melief, she finally had the opportunity to share life with her babies for the first time; watch them explore the world, and show her what life for a pig should actually look like. She tasted the fruits of life – like berries and melons for food – but also the feeling of sunshine and mud baths pamper her skin, and mud baths cool her down. Her piglets and other residents at Melief kept her good company and showed her kindness and care until her body could only rest.

On the IG account @mymomsam we will keep you posted on the making of the documentary and continue to share stories about her piglets.

Thank you for following her journey!