One night I received a Facebook message from Laura , a former classmate. “ Hey Steve , ” she said , “ I know you ’ ve always been an animal lover.I ’ ve just had a baby and I can ’ t keep my mini pig. ” Being fond of animals , I knew I wanted the pig.I just had to figure out how to make it happen.I lived in a two­bedroom single­level house in Georgetown , Ontario.It ’ s tough to bring a pig back to the house I share with two dogs , two cats , and my lifelong partner . But I was not letting that pig go.So I told Laura I ’ d take the animal.When I got home with the pig , I hid her in the bedroom , and began to prepare a dinner for Alisha—her favourite bacon cheeseburgers.It ’ s better to make her happy before introducing the new member to her. When I led her to the bedroom and showed her the surprise , Alisha stood in the doorway like a statue.It took her a few seconds to know what I had done.She complained about my unreasonable action.She insisted there was no more room in the house. I knew I was wrong , but I hoped I could smooth things over.Soon enough , the lovely pig did the smoothing for me.Never had we felt such joy as she brought to us.We got her a name “ Esther ”. Esther ’ s arrival changed our lives.A few weeks later , we decided to stop eating bacon.We figured it was our turn to try to change the world for other animals.A few months later , we moved to a farm where we cared for abandoned animals—so far , six rabbits , six goats , two sheep , one horse , three cows and three chickens.