Dear Directors: Tina Thomas, Catherine Mitchell, Trevor Tillwick, Dr. Julie Kessel, Erica Maxwell -Dick Caldwell, Will Freeman, Naomi Harker, Sasha Lohn, Merissa Lynn, Erin Maloney, Rachel Menger, Stephanie Morge, Carrie O’Brion, Rhoda Restivo, Julie Rockwell
I invite you to visit the FB page of a great animal welfare organization, Pork Butt Pastures Inc. Nonprofit Pig Rescue & Boarding.
There you will read of the journey of Waddles, a pig who experienced 2 weeks of neglect at the SPCA Tampa Bay until finding a genuine safe-haven with Pork Butt Pastures.
The following is a letter from Kelly Dill and Connie Pavelich of this fanstastic rescue organization to the Largo Police Department, Pinellas County Animal Services, other municipal officials, and the media. Have you received it yet from Ms. Boden? The letter speaks for itself.
To Whom It May Concern,
This is not a complaint — this is a formal accusation of gross negligence and betrayal of public trust. It’s about Waddles, a 300-lb pig who was left to suffer in the Florida sun for 14 days under the watch of SPCA Tampa Bay in Largo — and what you allowed to happen to him.
Let’s start with your own mission statement:
“To prevent cruelty to animals.”
Now explain how letting an immobile pig bake in the July heat, unable to escape the sun, unable to stand properly, unable to access shelter — fits your definition of prevention.
Waddles was surrendered by his owners on July 10.
He was obese, with severely overgrown hooves and a tusk curling into his cheek. He could barely move. But he was not burned. We have the photo taken near intake that proves it.
By July 16, your own medical records documented that Waddles appeared sunburnt from lying in the sun for hours and not really being able to move well.
And then… you left him there.
Yes, you placed him in a pen. But due to his condition — which your own records acknowledge — he was unable to access the shelter portion for shade.
You knew he was suffering.
And you did nothing.
No tarp. No emergency care. No transfer.
Just worsening pain — and daily exposure in sweltering heat.
When our associate Connie called and asked why sun shades weren’t added, a simple tarp or umbrella would have solved this, she was told:
“We didn’t think of that.”
And: “We’re not equipped for pigs like this.”
If that’s the case, then why did you accept him at all?
You weren’t forced to take Waddles.
You chose to — and that choice led directly to his suffering.
On July 24, Kelly Dill of Pork Butt Pastures Inc., a local nonprofit pig rescue, came to the facility to evaluate Waddles in person and determine what would be required for safe transport.
But what she saw horrified her.
His condition was so severe — so visibly neglected — that she determined he had to be removed immediately. At that point, SPCA provided a crate for emergency transport.
When Kelly requested to back her vehicle in for loading, an SPCA employee instead attempted to lasso Waddles around his midsection — a pig with open sunburns and raw flesh. He screamed in pain and began bleeding where the rope touched his body. Only after Kelly intervened did the employee stop.
That was his final moment at SPCA. And even that ended in unnecessary suffering.
What Kelly brought home was a pig in critical condition:
Severe, blistering sunburns
Torn skin and dragging wounds
Tusk impaction left untreated
Hooves never trimmed
No medication provided at discharge — despite being prescribed
Visible trauma from handling and neglect
Waddles is now under care with Pork Butt Pastures, where he is receiving the attention he was denied. His recovery will be long and painful — and completely avoidable.
Meanwhile, SPCA Tampa Bay is mid-renovation with $3.5 million in upgrades, including $275,000 in state-funded infrastructure.
SPCA “Better Way Home” Campaign
FL Senate FY2024-25 LFI #1943 – $275,000 State Funding
So here’s the question:
You can install HVACs and build ICU units —
but you couldn’t put up a tarp?
You couldn’t pick up the phone and call a rescue for help?
You couldn’t stop a staffer from roping a burned pig?
WE DEMAND:
A full public explanation of what happened to Waddles
Immediate review of your livestock intake policies
Disclosure of why local rescues were never contacted
Accountability for why SPCA staff inflicted additional harm at release
Confirmation of staff training standards for handling animals with medical needs
You weren’t equipped.
You knew it.
And you kept him anyway.
This wasn’t a simple oversight. This was a conscious decision that led to suffering, injury, and long-term damage — inflicted by an organization that claims to prevent cruelty.
We would like to acknowledge the brutality of the language used in this letter. However, it is not intended as mere criticism — it is meant to educate, confront, and push for meaningful reform. Pork Butt Pastures Inc. is a nonprofit organization that survives entirely on private donations to care for the pigs it rescues. In this case, we believe it is both morally and ethically appropriate for SPCA Tampa Bay to compensate Pork Butt Pastures for the extensive medical care now required to treat injuries that occurred directly under SPCA custody. Furthermore, we propose that formal partnerships be established between the SPCA and local rescues, particularly when the organization is unequipped to care for specific livestock species. The SPCA receives millions in public and private funding, and it is only fair that a portion of those resources funnel down to support the nonprofits actually doing the work in crisis cases like Waddles.
Had such a partnership existed, this animal would not be enduring months of painful recovery and significant financial burden — all of which were entirely avoidable and, we repeat, inflicted by the SPCA itself. Florida considers animal cruelty a felony under state law. If that commitment is real, then it must extend beyond punishment to include solution-oriented changes that prevent cruelty from happening in the first place — especially at the hands of those who claim to prevent it.
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Note: Waddles story has reached over a million views on Tik ToK
My name is Waddles and I speak on behalf of all abused and neglected animals, the SPCA Tampa in Largo completely burned me by leaving me out in the sun! I just hit 1 million hits on Tik Tok, and the people are rising up!!!!!! They are calling and calling, maybe, just maybe, the pain I endured will ignite lasting change!!! Thank you Connie Pavelich for taking the lead on this.
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Donations for Waddles can be mailed to
Pork Butt Pastures, Inc
914 N. Collins St.
Plant City, FL 33563
Sincerely,
Warren Patitz