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COVER STORY Tell Us About Wilbur! Georgina not only has five adopted rescue dogs as part of her family, but there's also a pig lined up at the food bowls for dinner. Wilbur joined the family in November 2012 and shipped to Florida with the horses this year. How did you end up with a pet pig? He came from Bergen County Animal Care and Control (N.J.). I went with a friend to volunteer after Hurricane Sandy, and he was there. The woman at the shelter said she'd had some inquiries from animal sanctuaries, but she said, "I have a feeling about this pig, that he's more of a pet. He's very special." She was paying out of her own pocket to support him, so I decided to take him home. I never wanted a pig or thought of having a pig, but I wanted to try to give him a home. I figured if he wanted to be a farm animal he could live in the barn with the horses, and if he wanted to be a pet, he could live in the house with the dogs. He's definitely a pet—he 36 W INTER 2013 U N TAC K E D lives in the house, and he's cleaner and better behaved than some of my dogs. He's been a great part of the family. What's Wilbur's life like? He has a routine. He goes to the barn every morning and hangs out there all day, supervising. The horses are all used to him. He visits each paddock and says hello to them. In the evening, he comes home and has dinner and goes to bed. He has a dog bed of his own and his pillow with his name on it and a blanket. They're so smart and clean. He has such a personality. I'm so glad I gave him a chance. I took him to the vet, and they couldn't really answer any of my questions as far as how old he is or what breed he is. I've just been figuring things out as I go; I had to Google "what pigs eat" and figure out where to get his food. The experience has been kind of learning as I go. I feel like it's probably another way to get me ready for the baby—there are certain things you can prepare for, but there are a lot of things you're just going to have to learn as you go! Who are Wilbur's friends? I have five rescue dogs who range in age from 3 to 14. Two of them are from Danny and Ron's Rescue, who I adopted in January 2012. The rest are rescues from other places. I've just always loved being around animals. A pretty good rule for me is that if someone doesn't like my dogs, I'm probably not getting along with them. When I started getting into rescuing, it was something I became passionate about and wanted to do more of. I would love to adopt more, but this is really the amount that I can take care of the way I think they deserve to be cared for. For me, five is my max of what I can handle with my lifestyle right now. matter if someone says he can't or he shouldn't. That's something I try to bring into my everyday life. There are always going to be people who don't like you and say negative things about you. You have to just be yourself and move on. How are you going to protect your son from the media attention? I don't know yet. I know I'll try to shield him as much as possible, but it will also be something I'm going to want him to learn to handle. It's going to be something he's going to face, so I'd rather he learn to handle it from an early age. I was thrown into it as a teenager, and that was kind of a disadvantage. If you grow up with it, you can learn by watching your parents handle it, and you can go off their example. You can learn that it doesn't matter what people think—you can do your own thing and do what you think is right. I think in every aspect of life, not just being in the public eye, that's important to teach your child. Has becoming a mother shifted your priorities? I would say a little bit, and I'm sure it will be even more so after he's born. I'll be putting him first, when before the horses always came first. I think now, like with making the decision to stop riding, it's something you want to do for your child. I think for most people it's kind of a hard decision to stop riding for anything else, but when you're having a child, it's easy. You want to make sure your child is as healthy as possible. It's just what you do. What are you most excited about in this process? At this point, most of the big stuff is organized. We've done the birthing class thing; we have all the stuff we need. We've done GEOFFREY TISCHMAN PHOTO Wilbur, Georgina Bloomberg's pet pig, was a Hurricane Sandy rescue, joining her "family" of five adopted dogs.

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