"Peace, Love, Esther". Beloved wonder pig Esther lives on in the hearts of her followers and her two dads. Photo / The Washington Post
"Peace, Love, Esther". Beloved wonder pig Esther lives on in the hearts of her followers and her two dads. Photo / The Washington Post
Esther the Wonder Pig grew from a small piglet to a 270-kilogram sensation, leading her owners, Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter, to establish the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary.
The couple separated in 2022, leading to public scrutiny and financial challenges for the sanctuary, as fans took sides and some withdrew support.
Esther died on October 18, 2023, but her legacy continues, inspiring Jenkins and Walter to pursue new dreams and support animal sanctuaries.
Once upon a time, there was a pig named Esther, who wore tutus, ate cupcakes and charmed multitudes across social media. Her dads, Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter, adopted her as a young runt in 2012, assured that she would grow to little more than 30kg.
“We fell in love with the vision of what we thought she was going to be,” Walter says.
However, their beloved Esther grew – and grew – into a 270kg sow. And the couple’s suburban Ontario home, which also included two dogs and two cats, was no longer a viable option for their family. Greener pastures beckoned, in the form of a 20-hectare farm that allowed Esther to roam and provided a safe haven where rescued chickens, cows, goats, a horse and of course, pigs, could live out their natural lifespan and thrive. They called it the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary, or HEEFS.
Esther quickly became a viral sensation, captivating hundreds of thousands of followers from around the world with her playful antics, thanks to Jenkins’ social media savvy. He crafted a mischievous voice for Esther and posted photos with captions like “When Dad says no more cookies, ask Grandma” and “I like naps and long romantic walks to the fridge”.
“Most people are used to seeing a traditional companion animal,” Walter says, “but seeing a polar bear-sized animal on a love seat in the living room eating cereal changes that view. It’s what we call the Esther Effect.”
Sheryl Greenspan, a volunteer on the Esther the Wonder Pig social media team, agrees. “She put a personality and a face and a name to what was just someone’s dinner,” she says.
Jenkins and Walter found themselves living a dream, later referred to by actor and Esther fan Ricky Gervais as “the greatest love story ever told between two men and their pig”.
Walter spearheaded the creation of quirky Esther-themed merchandise that provided an income stream to support the sanctuary, and the two penned three books. The foundation also received charitable donations from Esther fans far and wide. Visitors flocked to the farm from around the globe, hoping to catch a glimpse of Esther rolling in the mud or lounging in her kiddie pool. Dozens of other rescued animals frolicked in the fields, got belly rubs from volunteers and basked in the sunshine. As Jenkins would later say, they were living inside the Esther Bubble.
Steve Jenkins with Esther the Wonder pig in their 20ha farm. Photo / The Washington Post
From fairy tale to soap opera
The public scrutiny and daily labour of running a busy animal sanctuary took its toll on Esther’s dads and after two decades together, they separated in 2022.
“The farm was such a joyful place to be,” Jenkins says, “that I think I did get lost in there. It allowed me to not have to deal with the world.”
They continued to live in the same house off and on for more than a year, but neither the separation nor the living arrangements were amicable.
“The fairy tale didn’t end the way that everyone would have chosen, where everyone lives ‘happily ever Esther’,” Walter says.
Derek Walter at the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary in Cambridge, Ontario. Photo / The Washington Post
A somewhat vague social media post from Jenkins in early August 2023 was the first indication to followers that things weren’t harmonious. He detailed that he had “been compelled to leave the farm” and would have no access to Esther nor to his and Walter’s dog, Phil.
That same day, Walter posted a request for privacy, referencing a “family break-up” and the HEEFS board of directors told followers it could not comment on a “personal matter between our founders”. Jenkins later revealed in a tell-all Facebook Live video that he’d been arrested on a charge of voyeurism, which was eventually dismissed, because of hidden cameras he’d installed throughout the shared home.
As the fairy tale quickly devolved into a soap opera, fans and volunteers chose sides: Team Steve or Team Derek. Some donors to HEEFS withdrew financial support, and impassioned arguments broke out online.
“People have a tendency to put on their team jerseys,” says Mary Carroll, who has travelled with her husband Scott Phillips from their home in Upstate New York to volunteer at the sanctuary since 2017, “but we tried to stay neutral. I’m no angel myself and I’m not going to sit up on my pedestal and pass judgment on others. That’s not the spirit of Esther’s mission.”
For longtime volunteer Kim Stacey-Thomas, who met Esther and her dads in 2014 after offering to make a birthday cake – from watermelons – for the pig’s second birthday, watching the split up-close was painful. “I love them both so much,” she says. “It was hell.”
The feud became difficult to hide, particularly as Esther’s health was failing. Her fans were accustomed to seeing Jenkins’ frequent video updates, punctuated by his distinctive giggle, so some bristled at the videos Walter was posting, going so far as to suggest he was mimicking Jenkins’ voice. Meanwhile, Jenkins shared that he was increasingly distressed about his separation from Esther and Phil. (He and Walter later agreed to shared custody of Phil.)
Jenkins was known for posting photos and videos of Esther with playful captions. Photo / The Washington Post
Walter, whose social media posts tended to be more circumspect than Jenkins’, found an outlet in sharing original poetry tinged with melancholy. But their followers eagerly dissected the stanzas, looking for hidden messages about the behind-the-scenes drama.
After Jenkins left the farm in August 2023, many followers voiced concern over his separation from Esther, as he was her primary caregiver. He had even spent several months beginning in the fall of 2017 living with her on-site at the Ontario Veterinary College when she was experiencing life-threatening seizures (she was later diagnosed with and treated for breast cancer).
“Her bond with Steve was so strong,” says Stacey-Thomas, who felt that keeping them apart created unnecessary stress for both. They were separated for 73 days.
“It’s rewarding and heartbreaking work,” says Kathy Fischer, current president of HEEFS’s board of directors. “These caregivers go through a lot of loss.”
Then Esther died on October 18, 2023. Despite the trauma that had clearly impacted their family over recent months, Jenkins and Walter were united in their love of Esther. The two put aside their differences long enough for Jenkins to be reunited with her just hours before she died. The loss was devastating for her dads and their extended family, and for hundreds of thousands who had fallen in love with her on social media.
Captivated by the Esther Effect, followers mourn the loss of Esther and the break-up of her dads. Photo / The Washington Post
‘Angel Esther’
For six weeks, the Esther the Wonder Pig official platforms went silent while Jenkins, Walter and their HEEFS family grieved her death and the recent losses of other beloved animals at the sanctuary.
“When she died, I cried until I couldn’t cry anymore,” Carroll says. “I remember sitting outside that night and looking up in the sky for the brightest star because I knew that was Esther the Wonder Pig.”
The worldwide community also felt the loss. When Esther’s social media pages lit up again, Jenkins and the team of social media volunteers spoke to followers through the voice of “Angel Esther”, complete with snarky remarks about Jenkins’ footwear choices (he’s a big fan of Crocs) and reminiscences of favourite desserts.
As the weeks passed, Greenspan began noticing that followers were sharing the losses of their own companion animals and asking Esther to watch out for them crossing the rainbow bridge. She saw it as another example of the Esther Effect: even in the absence of her physical presence, the pig was having an impact.
“Esther captured the hearts of literally millions of people,” says Krista Hiddema, founding president of HEEFS. “The sanctuary provided a space for people to get to know how unique and special every farmed animal is.”
HEEFS' executive director, Derk Walter, and the other pigs in the sanctuary. Photo / The Washington Post
As well as pigs, there are also goats in the sanctuary. Photo / The Washington Post
Dreams lost – and found
Just over a year after Esther’s death, on October 27, 2024, Jenkins sat in front of a camera on the farm he left in the summer of 2023. The big red barn sat empty in the distance as the quiet autumn evening deepened around him. The loss of Esther still weighed heavily on both of her dads as they struggled with how to disentangle their lives.
His voice trembling, Jenkins read from a sheaf of papers, sharing his view of the events that led to the dissolution of his relationship with Walter.
“What I’m about to tell you isn’t to cause animosity or anger ... ” he says on the video, in which he aired (in great detail) his version of the souring relationship. “I can’t live with this hanging over my head like some big secret, afraid of who knows what or hearing endless gossip.”
Walter, on the other hand, took a more private approach. “I chose to remain largely silent – initially to abide by legal restrictions, and later because I believed our mission should remain above personal conflict,” he said in an email.
The big red barn stood empty in Jenkins’ video because HEEFS, and Walter, as its executive director, had moved the entire operation, including 69 animals, the previous month, after being offered an opportunity earlier that year to purchase a nearby farm more than double the size of the original property. The announcement on social media blindsided Jenkins, who was no longer involved with HEEFS, as well as those who had donated funds over the years to support various efforts on the original farm, including benches along the Memorial Trail.
For Walter and HEEFS’ staff and board of directors, it was a logical move intended to give the organisation more long-term stability. The farm where HEEFS was founded was co-owned by him and Jenkins, who then leased most of the acreage back to the sanctuary.
“Sanctuaries need to own their own property,” Walter says, “and HEEFS has always been about giving our residents the best life possible. The story had already grown beyond Esther and the founders. People were starting to visit the sanctuary who didn’t even know who Esther was.”
The surprise announcement inspired Jenkins to raise the funds to buy out Walter’s share of the original farm so he could save and protect it and pursue a new dream. He hopes Operation Angels will be an agritourism destination whose proceeds will provide financial assistance to the many small sanctuaries struggling to help abandoned and abused animals. After 10 years in the animal sanctuary world, it’s a need Jenkins understands all too well.
“I found myself in a situation I never expected to be in,” Jenkins says. “Where or how the sanctuary operated should never have been about me and Derek. But the fact that the move was presented the way it was turned out to be both the best and the worst thing that could have happened.”
Once the move to the new farm was complete, Walter took a lengthy leave of absence from HEEFS, giving himself time to process memories and create fresh ones. “I was absolutely exhausted,” he says. “I slept so much and watched so many sunrises and sunsets. Being away has allowed me to understand where I’m needed the most. I can’t wait to get my boots back on and get into the thick of it.”
Jenkins is busy fashioning a new life back at the old homestead, the house he once shared with Esther and Walter still showing the inevitable scuff marks made from the hooves of a 270kg sow rooting for snacks and getting up to piggy high jinks.
“I’m past the sad point,” he says. “Now I just want to live up to what Esther’s community is all about. Everything in my life was a dumpster fire for a while. I’m looking forward to being the helper again.”
