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Pittsburgh Zoo Trainers Treat Wild Pigs To Daily Massages

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- "Hi, girls!"

The "girls" are three wild pigs who live at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, and this is a visit they look forward to.

It means they're in for a spa treatment, with a good massage and back scratch.

The story starts with a man and his pigs. Mark McDonough first went into the enclosure when the exhibit opened in June 2015, hoping to ease their stress about being in a new environment.

"Then they started coming up where I was able to scratch them and then slowly they would plop down," McDonough said.

Sure, you may think it's strange to give a pig a back scratch, so does McDonough.

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"Saying that I'm giving massages to pigs on a daily basis, that's something that I would have not imagined me doing," he joked. But others have joined in.

"As the days went on I just couldn't resist cause they're just so darn cute," zoo employee Karen Vacco said.

It may look like a one way street but the trainers say it's certainly not, that this has actually enriched their lives as well.

"It's a joy. Having them plop down and say 'OK Mark I'm ready for my daily massage,'" McDonough said.

"After a hard days work, you go home your cat sits on your lap, your dog greets you at the door. It's the same feeling, just to know they're happy to see us," Vacco said.

With eyes rolling back, the warty pigs - Cahlea, Dakala, and Pearl - you can tell how happy the girls are to see the trainers.

"They don't like us leaving. So we kind of have to try to sneak out," Vacco said.

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