Kristin Hartness, Founder, Proud Pig Mom
Kristin, the most loving pig mom in the universe, has been a vegetarian/vegan for most of her life. At the early age of five, she proved to have a mind of her own by rejecting meat from her diet despite living with omnivores. In fact, five-year-old Kristin hadn’t a clue that people like her existed! Now, she dedicates her future to bringing compassionate vegans together and saving animals from being steak on a plate. She has always had a strong code of morals and a loving determination to live by them. Many who know her would describe her as caring, funny, and generous. After moving to the Caribbean, she chased after her dream of owning a pig. Like anything she puts her mind to, she accomplished it- and along came Ziggy, who seemingly plopped into her open arms directly from Heaven. Her little (now big) angel has accompanied Kristin and her fiance Jay on quite the wild ride, the three of them touring the US whilst advocating for animal rights. Currently, she is pursuing her next dream; bringing Ziggy’s Refuge to life and offering a lifetime of love to animals in need. When she’s not taking on the world to help animals, you can find her swimming laps at the nearest pool or hiking mountains with Jay and Ziggy.
Jay Yontz, Founder, Proud Pig Dad
Jay Yontz, the most dedicated pig dad ever, strode into the world of animal rights five years ago after receiving his first sloppy piggy kiss from his beloved Ziggy. The two have been inseparable ever since. He is a very skilled handyman; you can find his hard work on tennis courts all across the country. Jay is even more skilled when it comes to advocating for farm animals. His words have touched the souls of thousands, and with Ziggy and Kristin’s help, he has been able to show people the benefits of living compassionately. His favorite quote is “the greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do”, and he lives by those words every single day by chasing his dreams and caring for his family with Ziggy’s Refuge in mind. He leads by example, and is admired by many. Jay has spent the last two years roadtripping across the US with his fiancee Kristin and their human-baby-in-a-pig-suit Ziggy while liberating the lives of animals everywhere by speaking at events and volunteering at sanctuaries. When he has any extra time, which is rare, he enjoys mountain biking, skiing, beer tasting and snuggling with animals.
Jordan Ayres, Campaign Manager, Dog Lover
Jordan, a young animal and human rights activist, began chasing her dreams early on. She graduated from high school at the top of her class a year and a half early and plans to further her education using online college courses to allow for a more flexible schedule. She studied heavily in Environmental Science as well as Psychology, which she passed with flying colors. In November of 2015, she founded her own non-profit called Pawsitive Rescues (pawsitiverescues.org) to save dogs off of death row and offer an alternative rehabilitation program to people suffering from mental illnesses and addiction. She continues to work on bringing Pawsitive Rescues into the world while dedicating the rest of her time to Ziggy’s Refuge. On her days off, she enjoys reading Stephen King novels, binge-watching Netflix, volunteering on Peta2’s Street Team and spending time with her two dogs. Her favorite song is “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas, although you will oftentimes find Led Zeppelin II playing in the background of whatever task she is working on. Her favorite fruit is watermelon and she swears by Gardein products.
THE DREAM TEAM
Justin McAnaney, Legal Advisor, Another Ziggy Daddy
Justin McAnaney is the legal advisor for Ziggy’s Refuge. He is a corporate and commercial lawyer with a twenty year track record of providing meaningful legal and strategic advice to businesses of many types and sizes. He began his career in the New York and London offices of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he had a broad transactional practice focused on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions. He is currently a partner with the law firm Outside GCwhere his practice focuses on start-up and growth-stage businesses.
Justin is a lifelong animal lover whose personal journey toward animal activism began a decade ago with another Ziggy. This Ziggy was Justin’s first rescue dog. Justin’s close bond with “ZiggyDog” inspired his enthusiasm for improving the lives of all animals. He became a vegetarian, has volunteered at a farm sanctuary and fostered numerous dogs on their way to their forever homes. He is thrilled to be involved with Ziggy’srefuge.
