We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danielle Betterman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danielle below.

Alright, Danielle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Better Piggies Rescue was created because of my love for pot belly pigs. After receiving a pig as a gift from my ex-husband, I started doing research about diet and health/wellness, wanting the best for my pig. What I found was a huge need for pig rescue in Arizona and the misinformation surrounding pigs and their ownership. So Better Piggies was born and grew through our social media presence. Everyone loves to see cute pigs but what was missing was information about the pigs and how other pig owners can be better with their pigs. Instagram was a huge source success (@betterpiggies) and when TikTok came around, I was able to showcase the good and the bad about pig ownership.

Danielle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started rescuing and fostering with other organizations in Arizona (Ironwood Pig Sanctuary and Circle L Ranch). After multiple fosters, and a few foster fails, I decided to start a non-profit rescue and sanctuary. Moving to the Cave Creek/Phoenix area in 2018 gave me more space to rescue more pot belly pigs as well as farm hogs. At this time we have over 170 rescue pigs and 3 cows, all coming from different rescue situations. We have a great volunteer base that helps with the daily care and rescues throughout Arizona. We host monthly tours and volunteer orientations (people can sign up at betterpiggiesrescue.org) and go to events to educate the public on all things pigs.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

There is no such thing as a “micro mini” pig. Breeders are tricky and will say anything you want to hear to sell you a pig. People that believe the myth will get a pig thinking it will only stay 25lbs fully grown. In actuality, every pig is mini as a baby but they all grow up. The term “mini” pig means that it weights less than a farm hog, which can get up to 1,000lbs fully grown. Pot belly pigs range anywhere from 65-300lbs so by that fact, they are “mini”. People that have questions can reach out to sanctuaries and take tours to see for themselves.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Donations are key! We run monthly fundraisers, work with various organizations and cities, and give tours to collect enough donations to keep our pigs happy, healthy, and full of delicious food. To donate to our rescue, go to betterpiggiesrescue.org or you can purchase any of our shirts because all proceeds go directly to our pigs.

Contact Info:

• Website: betterpiggiesrescue.org
• Instagram: @betterpiggies
• Facebook: @betterpiggies
• Linkedin: @betterpiggies
• Other: TikTok: @betterpiggies

Image Credits
Better Piggies Rescue Phoenix, AZ 501c3 non profit