Don’t toss that jack-o’-lantern: Colorado pigs are waiting for your leftover pumpkins

Halloween is over, and your porch pumpkin is starting to look a little rough. Before you throw it in the trash, there’s a better option: let a pig eat it. A national nonprofit called Pumpkins for Pigs has built a whole movement around sending used pumpkins to farms and animal rescues instead of landfills. Colorado has a few pumpkin-loving farm animals of its own, and they’d be glad to help.

The biggest event on the calendar is in Steamboat Springs. The Community Agriculture Alliance is holding its seventh annual “Pumpkins for Piggies” on Saturday, Nov. 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Yampa Valley Foods, 35 11th St. Your old pumpkins get reused as animal feed and compost, and Yampa Valley piggies get a treat. Drop yours off and you’ll get a free hot cocoa and a cookie inside. That’s a better deal than the pumpkin got.

Closer to the Front Range, Chris P’s Rescue & Rehabilitation in Pierce, northeast of Greeley, takes pumpkin donations year-round at 45019 U.S. Highway 85. There’s a catch: they want uncarved pumpkins. If you skipped carving this year and just let a pumpkin sit pretty on the porch, it can still go to good use.

Wherever you go, a few rules keep the animals safe. Clean off any paint, glitter, candle wax and stickers first, and skip pumpkins that are moldy or falling apart. There’s a Colorado reason to do this too. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has warned in past years that rotting pumpkins left outside can attract bears and other wildlife. Taking your pumpkin to a farm or a compost drop keeps a bear off your porch, and that’s better for you and the bear.