Stanley Soars

Yesterday, the answers we were hoping for did not lead us toward treatment, recovery, or more time with Stanley.

Stanley passed away.

When Todd left Arthur’s Acres with Stanley yesterday morning, we truly believed they were taking the next step toward helping him. We thought Cornell would help us understand what was causing his pain and that they would return home with a plan to make his life even better. We did not know we were saying goodbye and today we are still trying to understand how that can possibly be true. We thought we had more time.

We are still waiting for more definitive test results that may help us understand the full picture, but the preliminary findings revealed severe, widespread arthritis throughout Stanley’s body, along with lesions on his spine. While at Cornell, Stanley suffered cardiac arrest and despite the medical team’s efforts, they were unable to revive him.

The trip we believed would lead us toward answers and treatment ended with Todd coming home without Stanley.

Stanley was with us for only eight months. After spending nearly six years being failed by the people responsible for his care, he finally got eight months of safety. Eight months of proper food, clean bedding, medical care, fresh air, mud on his nose, companionship, and the freedom to simply live.

Eight months… after losing years. That is not enough.

Stanley came into this world innocent. Like every animal who depends on a human, he had no control over the people who would make decisions for him. He was taken from his mother at just 2 weeks old. He was fed dog food for years. He was kept indoors, denied proper exercise and enrichment, went without proper hoof care. Even his eyes bore the consequences of those years and by the time Stanley came to us, he was blind.

None of that was Stanley’s fault.

But Stanley had to live in the body those choices created. Stanley was the one who suffered. And yesterday, Stanley was the one who paid the ultimate price.

That should make people angry.

Caring for another living being is not something you get to improvise. Love is not enough. Good intentions are not enough. You have a responsibility to educate yourself about what they need to eat, how their body works, what medical care they require, how much they need to move, what their environment should look like, what behaviors are normal, and what signs mean something is wrong.

Stanley’s story is a roadmap of what happens when that responsibility is ignored.

And the cruelest part is that he was finally receiving everything he should have had from the beginning and we were still working toward giving him even more. Todd had been working endlessly to prepare a new space for Stanley, growing grass and renovating the pavilion so he would have more room to roam and graze while still being able to get outside during the colder months.

He never got to move in.

That space will now be called Stanley Soars Pavilion, because Stanley’s journey to freedom deserves to continue through the space that was meant to be his.

His journey to Arthur’s Acres began with a car ride beside Todd, headed toward safety and the life he should have always known. Stanley Soars became part of his story because he was the pig who flew to his rescue. We never imagined another ride together would become part of his final chapter.

But Stanley’s story is not only be about what was taken from him because in those eight months, something extraordinary happened. He learned how to live.

When Stanley arrived, Todd had to hand-feed him. Eventually he learned to eat from a spoon, then from a tray and finally, all by himself, from a bowl outside. He learned to walk outside on his own. He felt sunshine on his skin and grass under his hooves. He discovered that the world could hold good things. 

Most importantly, he learned that he was allowed to make choices. Choices like when he wanted to go outside and when he wanted to climb back into his warm bed surrounded by blankets and stuffed animals.

Stanley knew what it felt like to be comfortable. He knew what it felt like to have a full belly and a clean bed. He knew sunshine. He knew belly rubs. He knew people who celebrated every tiny accomplishment like it was the greatest thing in the world.

We are grateful beyond words that Stanley got to know kindness before he left this world. But we are also furious that kindness came so late.

He deserved a lifetime and he only got eight months. We thought we had more time. And today, there is an empty space where Stanley is supposed to be.

If Stanley’s story does anything, we hope it makes people stop and understand the enormous responsibility that comes with caring for another living being. Educate yourself. Ask questions. Get veterinary care. Pay attention. Do better.

Because animals do not get to choose who is responsible for them. And they should never have to suffer because someone could not be bothered to learn.

Stanley, you were a glimmer for so many of us.

We love you. And we hope somewhere, somehow, you are grazing in the sun-filled fields of green you always deserved.