JUNE 2018 THE RIDER /19


Large Animal CT scanner fund raising is being helped by Esther the Wonder Pig!


Guelph, First released April, 10, 2018 at University of Guelph News - Esther the Won- der Pig, the real-life star of a new hit children’s book and one of the most beloved and famous pigs on Earth, is making a very large contribution to the Uni- versity of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College (OVC). The porcine celebrity, and


the two men who rescued her as a tiny piglet, are the benefactors behind a large, life-saving scan- ner coming to OVC. The Pe- gaso CT scanner – the first of its kind in Canada – in some ways mirrors the trail-blazing Esther. The story made headlines


with stories airing on CTV News, CityNews and CBC News.


When she needed just such


a scanner a few months ago, there wasn’t one in Canada that could be used on an animal of her size. Once the new machine is in place, diagnostic scanning technology will be accessible to Esther and to other large ani- mals.


Last fall, Esther began ex-


periencing mysterious, poten- tially life-threatening health complications that resulted in seizures and hyperventilation. A CT scan was recommended to better diagnose the problem,


“As soon as we realized there was nothing there for Esther, we started working to get a large-scale scanner in place. It was an incredible opportunity to do something good, to do something much bigger than anything we’ve done so far.” Esther is now in good


health, he said, pointing to her increased energy and activity. Stephanie


Nykamp,


OVC’s associate dean, clinical programs, says the new ma- chine will fill a gap in large-an- imal health care not only at


Esther the Wonder Pig!


but no such option was avail- able for Esther in Canada. Transporting the animal to


a super-sized scanner in the United States was complicated and would have involved weeks of quarantine upon re- turning to Canada. With more than 1.5 mil-


lion followers on social media, Steve Jenkins and Derek Wal- ter, who run the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary near Milton, Ont., have now launched a $650,000 campaign to equip OVC with the scanner (https://www.theestherscan- ner.com/). “When Steve and Derek


learned that there was nowhere in Canada that had such a scan- ner for large animals, they were surprised,” says Jeffrey Wich- tel, OVC dean. “As a health-care centre


whose goal is to help animals of all shapes and sizes, we’re grateful Steve and Derek want to help change that – for Esther and for all large animals.” With this new flexible CT,


OVC will be able to scan not just pigs but also standing horses and other large animals. “We wanted to give large


animals the same opportunities that we give to our typical com- panion animals,” said Jenkins.


OVC but also across Canada. “This scanner will enable


us to scan a horse in a standing position. That means we can avoid the risks and recovery as- sociated with anesthesia and placement on a table,” says Nykamp. Jenkins


and Walter


adopted Esther as a piglet just over five years ago, expecting she would grow modestly and remain relatively small. Instead, Esther grew and


grew, and kept on growing – and so did her reputation. Sto-


ries about her size appeared in National Geographic and in newspapers around the world. And as she grew, so did


the love that Jenkins and Wal- ter had for her. Both men be- came vegans and animal advocates, purchasing the Hap- pily Ever Esther Farm Sanctu- ary in the Milton area, where Esther is the superstar. She will be the first pa-


tient scanned by the Pegaso once it is installed.


1-877-tryavia (519) 264-2354 RR #1, 8782 Longwoods Road, Mt. Brydges, ON N0L 1W0 www.viatrailers.ca


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