Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for being a tough guy on screen thanks to films like The Terminator and Predator, but he has a soft spot in real life, especially when it comes to animals.
Schwarzenegger’s home includes many unique pets… and recently, he introduced the world to his newest animal friend, a pet pig!
The Hollywood icon shared a photo on Instagram of him holding his dog Cherry along with his newly-adopted pig Schnelly:
“The family is growing,” Schwarzenegger wrote.
Speaking to FOX 11 program The Issue Is, Schwarzenegger explained that the pig’s name comes from the German word “schnell,” which means “fast.”
“When we brought [him] home, [he] ran out of the house, ran all over the property, and we couldn’t catch [him],” Arnie said. His girlfriend suggested the name “Schnelly.”
Schwarzenegger added that thankfully, the pig doesn’t run away anymore: “He’s fantastic.”
Schwarzenegger owned a previous pet pig named “Bacon” — which he says was due to the influence of his Batman & Robin co-star George Clooney, who had a pet pig named Max.
“I always liked that he was into pigs; he has this little pig that he takes everywhere,” Schwarzenegger told the Columbus Dispatch in 2014. “So I bought a pig right after that. Only thing is, I must’ve bought the wrong one because, in no time, it was 300 pounds and I could barely lift the son of a gun.”
(Given Schwarzenegger’s previous career as a bodybuilder, that’s really saying something!)
But pigs are just one of the many unique pets Schwarzenegger has brought home: he also has a donkey named Lulu, a miniature horse named Whiskey and three dogs: Dutch, Schnitzel and Cherry.
During the pandemic, Schwarzenegger shared videos showing him spending time in quarantine with his animal friends, which went viral.
Mr. Schwarzenegger has worn many different hats over his career, from bodybuilding champion to Hollywood megastar to Governor of California, but these days the 75-year-old is most happy just caring for his animals.
“I have a good balance between work and fun… It’s so much fun to to feed the animals in the morning, all the different dynamics and all this stuff,” he told FOX 11.
What an adorable pet pig! It’s clear that Arnold Schwarzenegger really loves his animals! 🐷