At 5-years old, she is a hardy presence among the 230 or so animals that live in the peaceable animal sanctuary on Glen Willow Road. In her early years she was the self-appointed greeter at the gate, meeting everyone who came with a little snort and a nudge to be petted.
Chenoa Manor is owned and operated by veterinarian Rob Teti, 42, who dreamed since his childhood of creating this 25-acre place where endangered and unwanted animals, from geese and cows to turtles and goats, could live out their lives free of predators, the slaughterhouse and starvation. And they do — happily.
But on Tuesday evening when Teti went out to the pigs’ field to tend to them, he was shocked to find that someone had shot his beloved Bette with an arrow. She was obviously in distress, and an arrow, later determined to be about 3 feet long, was hanging out of her gut.
“I saw her and she came running up. I saw from a distance that something was protruding,” Teti said.
He said favorable circumstances and the generosity of strangers helped to save Bette.
Teti said as soon as he saw Bette, who was named for actress Bette Davis, he knew he had to get her to treatment right away. He called New Bolton Center to alert them to his situation and, with fingers crossed, put out a call on social media for someone with a van to come and help transport her to the world-famous East Marlborough animal hospital.
By a stroke of luck, Jane Donze, a lawyer from East Marlborough, was online and saw the message. By another stroke of luck, she had just hooked up her horse trailer for fox hunting the next day.
“Looking at the Facebook posts, I saw that someone needed help to pick up an injured pig. … I said ‘I can do this’ and I was sent to this place (Chenoa Manor) I didn’t know existed,” she said.
That was the first fortunate coincidence.
The second for Donze was that when she arrived at the long lane to Chenoa Manor just off Glen Willow Road, she was unable (or just did not know how) to back the vehicle in with the trailer.
But as luck would have it, a truck that was driving down the road. The vehicle was flagged. The driver was asked for help and obliged. He backed up the the bulky vehicle into a location that would serve as the loading place for Bette, Donze said.
Then the work began getting Bette into the van. It went on in the dark for the better part of four hours.
According to Teti, Bette was obviously upset and confused. She was not about to climb the makeshift ramp they had created out of plywood, and she was so heavy they couldn’t lift her.
That’s when Teti, at the suggestion of a New Bolton veterinarian, summoned Bette’s great friend, Sebastian, a large off-white and very intelligent pig who hung around with her.
As Donze, Teti and Chenoa Manor volunteer Kate Stroh watched, they were amazed to see Sebastian survey the situation, sniff his friend, and bit off the arrow shaft sticking out.
“He grabbed the shaft, bit it off and put it on the ground. Then he lay down and put his head on her rump and she calmed down,” Stroh said.
Still, anxiety was high among pigs and humans.
Donze said Bette was still not in any mood to get into the van. Sebastian wandered out onto the road and had to be chased back to the gate. Only when he was lured onto the van with food to lead the way — “just like a guy” Stroh said — was Bette willing to follow.
When they finally got Bette to New Bolton, the vets assessed her injuries and found that she had actually been shot twice: once by the arrow that was still in her and by another that had gone through her.
But again, Teti said, there was another miracle because although the remaining arrow shaft was still embedded 30 inches into Bette’s body, it had not touched her vital organs or her spine.
In the course of the operation, which took another four hours or so, doctors determined that the tip of the arrow had been spring loaded, so it opened into three sections when it entered her body. Donze added that someone said it appeared it was shot from a cross bow.
When Teti asked if this had been a hunting error, he was told it was obviously a malicious act, not a mistake, and that it was done at close range.
Stroh said the event was very upsetting to her, not only that Bette was badly injured, but that someone would do this to a defenseless animal. “Pigs are very sweet, and they are very smart animals,” she said. She added that studies indicate that many people who go on to be brutal criminals get their starts by abusing animals, and this could be an example of it.
That person is still out there, Stroh said, and they are hoping that the assailant can be found and turned in. She said they are hoping to establish a reward as well.
Donze said she will never forget the night or the event. “It almost brought me to tears.”
She admitted that in the midst of the adventure she told them, “I’ll never eat pork again.”
She also said she hadn’t known about Chenoa Manor, but now wants to find out more about this safe haven for animals.
Additionally, she was impressed with Sebastian’s response. “It was clear that Sebastian was trying to help his dying friend.”
Donze said she hopes for a resolution. “I’m hoping the authorities are going to take it seriously,” she said.
Throughout the social media people are asking, “Who would do a thing like that?”
Meanwhile, on Friday, Bette was said to be in pain, confused and groggy, but in recovery.
Anyone with information is asked to call the state police, Avondale Barracks, at 610-268-2022.
(Daily Local News - Oct 6, 2014)
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