World’s first airport therapy pig hogs the limelight at San Francisco airport
- LiLou the pig is part of the airport’s ‘Wag Brigade’ – a programme that brings therapy animals to cheer passengers up and help ease travel anxieties
- The pig is dressed up in a pilot’s cap and greets passengers and poses for photos
The five-year-old Juliana pig and her owner, Tatyana Danilova, are part of San Francisco International Airport’s “Wag Brigade” – a programme that brings therapy animals to the airport to cheer passengers up and help ease travel anxieties.
Dressed in a pilot’s cap and with toenails painted bright red, LiLou breezes through the metal detector at airport security and trots to the departure gates. She raises a hoof in greeting, poses for selfies and entertains departing passengers with a tune on her toy piano.
“People are very happy to get distracted from the travel, from their routines, whether they’re flying on their journey for holiday or work,” said Danilova. “Everybody is usually very happy and it makes them pause for a second and smile and be like, ‘oh, it’s great’.”
When she is not delighting passengers at the airport, LiLou lives with Danilova in her downtown San Francisco flat, where she enjoys a diet of organic vegetables and protein pellets, sleeps in her own bed and goes for daily walks around the neighbourhood.
Danilova says LiLou loves interacting with people, but, as a prey animal, does not like having anyone approach her from behind.