Firehouse Goes Pork-Free After Adopting Penny the Fire Pig

Firefighters in Brooklyn’s Engine Company 239 removed pork from their firehouse’s menu after the arrival of their unofficial mascot, Penny the Fire Pig. The adorable pink pig spends her guardian’s biweekly 24-hour shifts sniffing around the firehouse, taking naps, and greeting the neighborhood children. 

Darren Harris originally adopted Penny from a farm in Virginia in 2021 for his seven-year-old daughter. Since then, Penny has also been embraced by his entire firehouse and the surrounding community, who often stop by to take her picture or just say hello.

Harris’s coworker and fellow firefighter James McCourt described Penny as “easier to train than a dog.” Harris agreed with that view of pigs:

Their brain capacity, they get up to a four-year-old or five-year-old’s level in intelligence. So they’re smarter than dogs, a lot of people say.

When she’s not on duty at the firehouse, Penny spends her days relaxing in the backyard and on the deck of Harris’s home in Middletown, New York. 

Pigs truly are amazing! They have been successfully trained to play video games and have excellent object-location memory. Pigs also form strong bonds with one another. Mother pigs sing to their babies as they nurse and use individual calls for each of their newborn piglets, who recognize their specific calls and come running to their mothers. 

But pigs shouldn’t have to move into human homes or workplaces to prove that they are individuals worthy of care and respect. As the philosopher Jeremy Bentham said, “The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”

Want to take a stand for pigs and other farmed animals? Level up your breakfast with these six tasty vegan bacon brands, and download our FREE How to Eat Veg guide for more plant-based tips and tricks.