Vegetarian Star

Whatever happened to Wilbur the pig from Charlotte’s Web?

After he finished his red carpet activities and stole the spotlight from Dakota Fanning, Wilbur went to live happily ever after on the farm in Tennessee he was picked from with farmer John Batey.

But that almost didn’t happen.

After being chosen to appear on the front cover of an updated version of the book by E.B. White, “Charlotte’s Web,” Wilbur was headed for the slaughterhouse, much to the public’s outcry.

“Calls from Canada, Boston and New York came to the Batey home. “A Saskatchewan radio station thought our famous pigs would be of interest to their listeners,” said Melissa Batey, John’s wife. A vegetarian woman from Boston called to see what was going to happen to Wilbur. Even the publishing company called to offer a pig sanctuary for Wilbur. Calls also came in from Kingsport and Chattanooga.”

Happy ending?

Well, sorta.

Wilbur still lives on Batey farm. But it is still a farm, where other pigs are raised and sent to slaughter. Wilbur just gets “spared.”

But Batey maintains it’s a better life than at a sanctuary.

“I’ve seen those, and what a pitiful life,” said Batey. “I felt he would be much better off with his own kind and someone he knows. He is running with the sows, and they are about his size.”

via tennessean.com

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