A certain increasingly well-known pig called Dot, who lives at an animal sanctuary south of Dunedin, doesn't actually do much flying these days.
But she does have the kind of charm and gift for publicity that plenty of ambassadors would tend to envy.
Dot's bacon was saved recently when she was ``rescued from a factory farm''.
Dunedin resident and vegan Carl Scott also points out that Dot, now 6 months old, had since ``become something of a NZ ambassador for pig-kind''.
And she had recently become a ``superstar for animal advocacy organisation Save Animals From Exploitation (SAFE)''.
She had featured in a short video by the group, and also on a greeting card it was selling.
And Dot even has her own Facebook page: www.facebook.com/dotpigspage where people can keep up with her adventures.
Mr Scott is group administrator and spokesman for the Dunedin Vegans and Vegetarians Facebook group, which has adopted her as an ``official pig friend''.
Vegans do not eat any animal products.
Dot was adopted and named when the group added their 1000th member, some months ago.
And her name was derived from an acronym of the related celebration, which was titled ``Dunedin One Thousand''.
``The group has grown now to over 1400 members, and Dot is not so small either!'' he observed.
And some group members, after ``much anticipation'' had finally met their adopted pet on Sunday, travelling to the animal sanctuary where she lives.
Mr Scott sent out a light-hearted press release noting that a ``Dunedin group ditches Xmas ham, meets pig''.
Visiting Dot was not one of his rasher moves, he said, and ``everyone had a great time''.
``She's very friendly and she enjoys the company of humans.
``We believe in respect for animals, as well as protecting the environment, and in taking care of our own bodies.''
North Otago farmer and New Zealand Pork president Ian Carter says sound animal welfare practices are crucial for pork producers and it's vital for the industry's success ``that animals are healthy and well cared for''.
Farmers appreciated that pigs were intelligent and social animals and meeting their ``unique needs'' was ``critical'' to the pork industry, he said.
Mr Scott said that meeting Dot had been ``an ideal opportunity'' to reflect on what people's choices meant for the animals involved, ``with a true Christmas spirit of compassion and kindness at heart''.
The trip south had enabled them to see ``what the life of a truly happy pig is like'', unlike her counterparts, who lived ``extremely unhappy lives'' in factory farms.
Most pigs don't get airborne, and very few become ambassadors, but Mr Scott hopes they'll be seen as something more than pork chops and ham sandwiches this Christmas.
