HAVE YOU BEEN SOLD A PIG IN A POKE? TEACUP PIGS - WHAT ARE THEY?

So in keeping with having been advised to "do my research", which I actually did do when I rescued Potbelly and Kolbroek pigs from slaughter, I confess to having been more ignorant when it came to so-called "teacup" pigs. I didn't have any at the time so what was the point?

I did, however, on my travels, while seeking to rehome our pigs, pending our emigration to Australia, discover from vets and pig sanctuaries that they are inundated with abandoned pigs which were sold as "miniature" animals and turned out to be no such thing.
When they did, after even two years exceed the "specifications" that had been promised them by the sellers, the shocked owners either sought redress, found other homes or just gave the pigs up. And more often than not, the sellers weren't interested in the plight of the owners when the pigs ballooned beyond specification. They were often just told that they had been overfeeding their pigs hence the oversized outcome. And yet, even when one feeds a pig the prescribed amount and quality of food (that isn't augmented with growth hormones and chemicals as in most of the commercially available feeds), these "little" guys still became much bigger than predicted.

So where is the margin for error and the acceptable parameter beyond which sellers are prepared to go when "miniature" pigs become bigger than envisaged? I have no idea but I do know that there are a lot of disgruntled pig owners out there who were arguably sold "a pig in a poke"...
One pig sanctuary went as far as to say categorically that teacup pigs simply did not exist, at least not as they are advertised far and wide - i.e. being these miniature creatures that do not grow taller or heavier than lapdogs, and Susan Spencer, whose website link I attach, would seem to concur with that opinion insofar as the claims of miniaturisation are concerned.

I'm not about to enter the debate around the genetics involved as I have no expertise in that area at all but logic would dictate to me that accomplished breeders of pigs would originally have been aiming to create animals that comprise bulk, after all these creatures were designed to be eaten so the optimisation of meat yield would have been the primary motivator.
Much later in time, as we (arguably) evolved into a species that took to keeping pigs for reasons other than simply edible commodities, people's needs became more specific and smaller pigs much more desirable as they were practically more manageable. Hence the advent of the so-called teacup pig or so it is claimed.
But the Teacup is not an actual breed which I find to be most surprising after all this time - teacups are merely a variety of pig created by the hybridisation of other breeds to create a smaller animal that conforms to certain specifications.... but here's the thing - they usually don't. And as asserted by Susan Spencer who runs Tiny Teacup Pigs and has written several books on the topic, none of them comply with the claims of the breeders that they will not exceed the size of a small terrier dog and weigh in at under 30kg. And yet these claims persist to the eternal detriment -  not of the humans but of the pigs themselves when they are simply rejected.

One would have thought, given the marketability of small pigs that by now a successful strain would have been created that consistently yielded miniature animals and that those and those alone were interbred to maintain an exclusive breed and not rely on this hit and miss lottery that seems to obtain.

Folks, just be warned if you're considering a piggy as a pet - they start out as really, really minuscule mites and piglets must rank amongst the cutest baby animals around but they grow and they grow and they grow - for up to four years.
And until they officially proclaim that teacups are now, in fact, a breed, there can be no guarantees what your hybrid piglet is going to become - it's just educated guessing and when it goes "wrong", you're the one usually left holding the pig in the poke.

For me, they're worth it anyway big or small but I have 4 hectares in which they can roam and be pigs, others are not so fortunate and a larger than anticipated pig can wreak havoc in a suburban home and environment.
Whatever you do, think about the pig before you think about yourself. Please.
A pig, regardless of its size is a BIG commitment so don't own one if you're not prepared to make that commitment.

Potbellies can go from this:

To this in just 3 years:

I urge you to peruse this website. There is some interesting and very revealing information there.

Tiny Teacup Pigs can be found here