By two years of age, Pinky’s tusks have grown enough for me to see them coming out of the sides of his mouth. Unfortunately a year later, the tusks were growing inwards. They were curved in such a way that the tips of the tusks dig into the sides of his face. The tusks began to puncture into the thick folds of skin on both sides of his face. I was hoping that the tusks would curl downwards or away from the face, but this wasn’t likely to happen based on how the tusks near the root were shaped. I was quite sure the tusks will just continue to grow into his face, which could later become fatal.
I asked people who raised pigs if they could help. When they saw how big Pinky was, they admitted they couldn’t do it. Pinky was just such a huge boar. So I asked for help from the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian. I asked if they could sedate Pinky. They told me this was too risky, explaining the reasons why. So they suggested that I get several strongmen to help restrain Pinky while an electric cutting tool is used to trim his tusks. I was given a list of medicines and supplies to buy, including an anti-tetanus vaccine and Lidocaine.
The procedure was a success. Pinky didn’t like it, but he was restrained with a metal harness around the upper snout, and 5 strong men hog tied him. Anaesthetic was injected around the gum area, his tusks were cut, the cut ends were polished, anti-tetanus was injected, topical treatment applied on wounds on the sides of his face and tooth lesions. I think it took about 15 to 20 minutes. When it was over, Pinky was untied and he went straight back into his pen. He didn’t attack anybody, he didn’t bite anybody, he just walked back home glad that it was all over.
Here are some more photos. The veterinarians estimated that Pinky weighed 400-450 kilograms.
Thank you so much to the wonderful vets at the Bohol Office of the Provincial Veterinarian.
