
Todd Friedman: The Pig Who Changed Everything
From Species Unite by Species Unite
February 11, 2026 · 45 min · Season 13 · Episode 21
About this episode
Todd Friedman discusses the transformative journey of rescuing a pig named Arthur and the importance of animal sanctuaries.
"You want people to stop eating these animals and the only way to do it is to showcase them in a light where people see them as individuals, and not just a sandwich in the morning, or breakfast, or a dinner at Christmas holidays. These are individuals that feel pain, that feel happiness, that feel sadness and have friends and have families and have these big, beautiful units and they love each other. And when we showcase that, we get messages on a daily basis and people stop eating meat because of the animals at Arthur's Acres." - Todd Friedman In 2018, Todd Friedman walked onto a property he was told was empty, and instead he found a pig - abandoned, starving and alone. Todd named him Arthur, and that moment changed everything. It led to the creation of Arthur's Acres, a sanctuary built on land that once functioned as a backyard slaughterhouse. What followed was seven years of hard work and a commitment to doing right by animals who are almost always treated as expendable - pigs used in laboratories, pigs bred and discarded, pigs sold under the myth of being teacup pets, pigs so neglected or obese that they're on the brink of death. Today, Arthur's Acres is home to 50 pigs, each…
People in this episode
Guest: Todd Friedman
Topics covered
- animal rights
- sanctuaries
- pigs
- compassion
Keywords
- Arthur's Acres
- animal welfare
- pigs as individuals
More episodes of Species Unite
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- Dr. Melanie Joy: Why good people don't want to know · April 1, 2026 · 52 min
- Rose Patterson: What are we willing to risk when we know suffering is happening? · March 10, 2026 · 36 min
- Dan Shannon: How Change Happens · February 4, 2026 · 49 min
- Dax Dasilva: Echoes from Eden · January 28, 2026 · 32 min
- Rebecca Bose: Undoing an American Extinction · January 21, 2026 · 44 min
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