Every weekend, the Leathers Fuels gas station in John Day goes to the pigs.

For the past year, Leathers employee Arthur Cave has been taking his pet pig, Elfie, to work with him, starting when she was just a piglet.

Cave said the reason he started bringing Elfie with him to work was to take people’s minds off the ever-rising price at the pump.

“The prices were going up and people were coming in looking straight up at that sign. Now they come in looking straight for the pig,” Cave said.

Elfie has quite a few fans, according to Cave and even has her own Instagram page. “She’s got regulars that come in here just to see the pig,” he said.

“I’ve also met people that passed through a year ago and they come back and say, ‘Good, the pig is still here,’” Cave added.

Elfie has a knack for brightening the mood of upset customers, who are often pleasantly surprised when they meet her and discover she is very people-friendly.

“I just had a gal come through and she was in somewhat of a bad mood,” Cave said. “She said, ‘I’m having a terrible day,’ and I said, ‘Let me introduce you to my baby over here, she’ll make you smile.’ And she left with a big ol’ grin on her face.”

There was no adjustment period for Elfie in making regular appearances at the gas station, said Cave, noting shehas been with him since she was three days old.

“She thinks I’m Mama,” Cave added.

Now Elfie looks forward to her trips with Cave to Leathers Fuels.

“I set her up in the morning, and when I start walking out of the gate with her she runs up in here and she’s like, ‘Time to go to work, man.’ She actually likes coming to work more than she likes going home,” Cave said.

Elfie’s favorite thing to eat is a mix of walnuts and Cheerios that Cave keeps handy for when he wants her to come out of her enclosure in the back of his truck and meet people. Cave shakes the bottle containing the snack mix, and Elfie exits her enclosure to get a treat.

Despite the fact that Elfie is very friendly, Cave keeps a tusk cover on hand to prevent accidental injuries to those who choose to pet her.

The bottom line, though, is that people seem to like Elfie, and she seems to like them, and that’s why Cave keeps bringing her to work.

“I just thought I’d change things up, make the old gas station a little more fun, I suppose. … She gets a lot of attention out here — I love it,” Cave said.

When she isn’t at Leathers, Elfie lives at Cave’s Long Creek home, where she wanders the yard and runs around the house with another pig who is her sister. “I didn’t even have to break out a Weed Eater this year,” Cave said. “They did all my mowing for me.”

Cave laughed when asked if he would make it a requirement that the next job he accepts has to take him and Elfie as a package deal. “I might make it that way, but I think my next job I’m going to be doing is setting up my woodworking business,” he said.

Cave explained that he has been trying to expand his woodworking business for about seven years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed those plans down considerably. “It’s on hiatus, but I’m building a glass house out in Long Creek and I’m calling it my art studio,” he added.

NAME: Arthur Cave

AGE: 49

RESIDENCE: Long Creek

OCCUPATION: Fuel attendant and cashier at Leathers gas station in John Day.

HOBBIES: Hanging with his pet pig, Elfie, spending time with his wife of 20 years, and woodworking with the goal of opening his own shop

NAME: Elfie the pig

AGE: One year and two months

RESIDENCE: Long Creek

OCCUPATION: People piggy and emotional booster at Leathers gas station in John Day (works pro bono)

HOBBIES: Roaming around her residence in Long Creek, pigging out and, according to her owner, making gas that Leathers Fuels can’t sell