Remembering Gus
Gus the pig | Photo: Tom Woollard
It is with great sadness that we write this tribute to Augustus the Kunekune pig, or simply Gus to everyone who loved him, who passed away last week. We are all still in such profound shock, not least of all because he left us unexpectedly and far too soon.
The passing of any resident would be incredibly upsetting for all of us here, but Gus and his brother Pete - who survives and mourns him - came to us as piglets in 2017. In the years that followed, Gus and Pete helped to inspire the vision that was the Surge Sanctuary, and in doing so provided a focus for the work of Surge and Unity Diner. Gus touched many lives and will be sorely missed.
The Gus and Pete Instagram account amassed quite the following, testimony to their popularity. We invite you all to visit their account and share in the wonderful memories.
From the Surge Sanctuary Instagram announcement:
We are all completely devastated and heartbroken that we are having to post this, but tragically Gus has passed away.
We are all in complete shock that he’s gone, he was so settled and happy here at the sanctuary and he had so much life ahead of him.
Gus had needed his hooves trimmed as they weren’t wearing down properly as they should. We tried to trim his hooves ourselves on a number of occasions, each time trimming a bit off but not enough. As the vets were coming for a check up on all the animals, we thought it was best for Gus that they do the best job possible. We were adamant for the vets not to sedate him, but when they tried without the sedation he wasn’t very happy and they weren’t able to do the job properly. They insisted that to do a good job, he should be sedated. Then 4 hours later he died.
Abi, who runs the sanctuary every day and has looked after Gus since he was a baby, is completely heartbroken. This is our first sanctuary death and it’s extremely hard to process that Gus has actually gone. We are still talking with the vets and trying to figure out what happened, but it won’t bring him back.
Pete is grieving, he’s had his brother with him his whole life and every night they slept next to each other. Animals are no different to us, they feel, they grieve, they suffer. Witnessing Pete’s grief is completely devastating, especially when considering what is happening to billions of animals across the world right now, and how much emotion they all truly have.
Gus would have loved all the visitors, volunteers and belly rubs when we open. We’re so so sorry you won’t experience all of it Gus. We promise we’ll save as many animals as we can and we’ll keep fighting for a vegan world.
Thank you for all of the time we had together, you will always be with us. We’re so sorry Gus.
From the Gus & Pete the Pigs Instagram page:
Gus died on January 13th, 2021, after being sedated by the vets and not waking up.
I’m so heartbroken and can’t even begin to understand that my big boy Gus is gone just because of a hoof trim, it sounds so silly and he shouldn’t be dead, he’s only 3! I go between blaming myself and blaming the vets, trying to think of something they did wrong. We are still talking with the vets and trying to figure it out, but it will not bring him back and we’ll never know for sure. If anyone knows of any vegan vets, we would love to hear from you.
I feel awful and am so worried about Pete, he’s had his brother with him his whole life. Pete's behaviour has changed the past week as he is grieving. I’m so grateful we now have little Nigel, who can sleep next to him.
We have only lived at our new property a few weeks and only just announced the opening of the Surge Sanctuary. Gus would have loved all the visitors and belly rubs.
I am so sorry Gus, I feel like I’ve let you down. You’ll always be my first big baby ♥️♥️
