Virginia B&B Is Standing Up for Neglected Pigs
The White Pig Triples As A Bed & Breakfast, Non-Profit Animal Sanctuary And Working Farm
Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Central Virginia on 172-acres of lush countryside is a bed & breakfast called The White Pig. This is no ordinary bed & breakfast retreat, however; it’s a working farm. And it’s not just any working farm, it’s a pig sanctuary.
Dina Gilison Brigish, owner and innkeeper of The White Pig, began her journey as the owner of an animal sanctuary in 1997.
“I had been a horse person my whole life,” she said. “So I was used to taking care of larger animals. But as soon as you meet a pig, you realize they’re pretty special.”
Dina Gilison Brigish was given her first pig, Norman, as a gift. At the time, she was living in New York, working in the fashion industry.
“It quickly became evident that I was over my head with the knowledge of how to care for a pig,” she recalled.
Hoping to learn more, Dina reached out to a pig sanctuary. She was told that it would be best to get another pig, and the sanctuary could help her rescue one.
“They’re better in a herd environment,” Dina explained. “When they don’t have a friend, they often start establishing a pecking order with humans. The way they establish pecking orders within their own world is they bite each other and push each other around, and you don’t want them doing that to you.”
So when she received a phone call from Animal Control in Manhattan, Brigish rescued her first pig, Olive, who became a friend for Norman.
Unfortunately, Olive’s situation isn’t rare in a large city like New York. Pigs who were once pets find their way into the hands of Animal Control because they’re owners can’t care for them properly or no longer want them. Because pigs are considered livestock, when they can’t be returned to their owners, they often go to slaughter auction. This is where Dina Gilison Brigish steps in.
“I try to network with as many Animal Control officers and locations [as possible] so that they don’t end up in that place,” Dina explained. “Another place [pigs are rescued from] is from people who were raising meat pigs. And for some reason when they got out of the business, they had a conscience and called me.”
Today, with the connectivity of the internet and the popularity of social media, pigs are often bought and sold online.
“People are buying into the myth that [pigs] stay small,” Dina said. “They have all sorts of marketing names, like teacup pigs, but basically they just show pigs that are small or just under five… Unlike a human, a pig can reproduce at under one [year of age]. So a baby can produce a baby, so it’s really easy to fool people and say, ‘Look the mom is only fifty pounds,’ when the mom isn’t nearly full grown yet.”
After rescuing Olive, things got busy for Dina.
“As soon as people heard I had availability, the calls just kept coming in,” she said. “Within two or three years, I had outgrown my little property in New York. I knew that I had to get more space.”
Determined to continue providing a restful, healing place for her pigs, Dina made a significant lifestyle change.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay in New York and continue my job,” she explained. “I knew I had to find another way to make a living and take care of the pigs. So I came up with the idea of doing a bed and breakfast so I could stay home and take care of [the pigs] and earn money to take care of them. At the time, I had no idea how to cook, so I had to go to cooking school.
Dina Brigish went to a cooking school in Manhattan and learned how to cook healthy vegan food. Then she moved out of New York, and onto Briar Creek Farm in Schuyler, Virginia. She opened The White Pig Bed & Breakfast and Animal Sanctuary in 2000. Since then, the sanctuary has been funded primarily by the bed and breakfast. All the money that Dina makes goes directly to caring for the pigs.
Briar Creek Farm is currently home to 30 pigs, plus a few horses, dogs, and cats. All are rescued animals, and Dina would like to be able to welcome more. The White Pig is officially operating under 501(c)(3) status. As an official non-profit, Dina is be able to accept donations for the sanctuary and sponsors for the pigs.
Dina’s pigs are categorized as mini-pigs, meaning they only grow to about 250 or 300 pounds. Most of them are a variation of the Asian Wild Pig, otherwise known as the pot bellied pig. Because they have been bred amongst other wild pigs, there isn’t much of a distinction in their breed. Pigs that join the herd at Briar Creek Farm are welcomed there for the rest of their lives. When they first arrive, they are spayed or neutered, and then they spend some time in quarantine.
“Then we determine their personality, see where they would fit into the herd, and then we try to integrate them into a herd depending on size, weight, age, personality,” Dina stated. “And then they’ll get lifelong care, whatever that is. I have some pigs here that are 16, that’s on the older end for a pig. We take care of them until the end.”
Brigish’s days are filled with a tight schedule of tending to her pigs and providing for her guests. Of course, guest’s accommodations include some time to interact with the pigs. Brigish is happy to let them get up close and personal with the pigs. In fact, it’s one of her favorite things about owning a B&B and animal sanctuary.
“Pigs are like people,” she said. “Some are really extroverted and want to be pet and meet new people, and then I have some that are more introverted that hang out in the background, but if you wait long enough they’ll come up and meet you. So it’s kind of introducing pigs to people, as well, that’s the best part.”
All guests are given the option of a farm tour, which includes an introduction to the animals, as well as education about rescuing pigs.
“Educating people to the plight of what we’re going through here is really important,” said Dina. “I would love see people stop buying pigs, and [I wish] that every pig would have a home, and I would stop having to rescue them out of these horrible situations.”
The tour is also an opportunity to share with guests about a vegan lifestyle. Brigish has been vegan since 1994. Veganism is an important aspect of the bed and breakfast, as the B&B's menu options are entirely vegan.
“When I used to travel, it was really hard, especially 20 years ago, to get vegan food,” she explained. “And I just thought, I can’t be the only person on the planet looking for vegan food! So I basically created a place that I’d want to stay at. And it turned out there were a lot of other people who wanted to stay at a similar place.”
Today, The White Pig draws guests not only for the vegan fare, but also for the distinctive experience of staying at a pig sanctuary. Couples can find a quiet, meditative retreat, and parents can discover a unique family getaway. Ideally, the B&B and sanctuary will also draw people who want to learn about recusing pigs, and put them on the path for raising pigs rights.
“If you have a farm, and the time to put into it, and the commitment [to lifelong care]... if you visit a sanctuary and learn and know what the care entails, and then you rescue from a sanctuary, you’re a perfect person,” Dina expressed. “You’re like the unicorn out there.”
Kailyn Clay
A graduate of Trinity Christian College in English & Political Science, Kailyn has written for Brilliance Publishing & GEMS' Girls Clubs among others. She enjoys hiking and cooking.
Make Sure To Stay At:
The White Pig Bed and Breakfast, which offers an assortment of lodging options from a cozy and quaint mid century farmhouse, to a turn-of-the-century Victorian or a private and secluded pet friendly cottage.