Watermelon and second chances for Coconut

This billboard on Interstate 40 in Sampson County, NC celebrates simple pleasures and memorializes Coconut, a pig who found happiness at an animal sanctuary in her final years.

‍A billboard on Interstate-40 in Sampson County, North Carolina celebrates a special pig who got a second chance at a good life thanks to humans who cared about her.

‍Coconut lived her best and final days at The Blind Spot Animal Sanctuary(BSAS) in Rougemont, N.C., bathed in love.

‍In 2024, Coconut’s family surrendered her to a rural animal shelter in North Carolina because they could no longer take care of her. She was dying of cancer and was so crippled with arthritis she had to walk on her front knees.

‍Euthanasia was an option, but the shelter team fell in love with her. Veterinarians believed her conditions could be managed, giving her a real chance to live happily in hospice care at BSAS.

“They thought she was so sweet and they felt so strongly about her, they asked us whether we would be willing to admit her and give her a little bit of time as a hospice case,” says Alesja Daehnrich, the sanctuary’s co-founder. “And then when she came here, we realized she had severe arthritis.”

‍Alesja and her husband, Alex, showered Coconut with love and introduced her to an army of volunteers who treated her like a queen.

‍Laser therapy and strong pain medications breathed new life into Coconut, and she not only survived -- she thrived for many months.

Alesja says the care she received helped give her about a year of good living., Coconut passed away in 2025.

‍“She enjoyed her life here,” Alesja says. “She was able to graze. We had volunteers who would sit and read to her. She was able to see other pigs, and she had a little pool to keep cool.”

‍During Coconut’s time at the sanctuary she. was able to stand up and walk on all four hooves. She socialized with other pigs, took luxurious naps, and lived life to the fullest.

‍She enjoyed her favorite treats, like delicious green grapes and luscious red strawberries. She chomped on sweet watermelon with wild abandon, flinging juice and seeds onto anyone who was too slow to get out of the way. Some leftover seeds from earlier vegetables took root and grew into a little garden for Coconut in her enclosure, and she spent a long summer rooting around among fresh squash and tomatoes.

Coconut enjoys a piece of juicy watermelon.

‍This May and June (2026) if you’re driving westward on I-40 from Wilmington and the southern coast in North Carolina, you might catch a glimpse of a billboard featuring Coconut enjoying a chunk of ripe watermelon on a beautiful sunny day.

‍Coconut’s billboard stands as a reminder that pigs and all animals want to live joyful lives.

‍The billboard, part of the ongoing Picturing Pigs series and sponsored by the Karuna Foundation, is located on I-40 in Sampson County. It is positioned along the eastbound lane and visible to motorists heading west on the interstate near mile marker 355. Look to your left across the highway to see it.