Stray Pot-Bellied Pig Enjoyed Socializing With Dogs
A pot-bellied pig in Jurupa Valley enjoyed roaming the neighborhood and saying hello to one family’s dogs.
Only problem with those greetings is the timing. The male pig kept showing up in the mornings. Early mornings. Before-the-sunrise time slots.
And that disrupted people’s sleep patterns.
“It makes our dogs bark,” said Luana Snyder, 69, a long-time Jurupa Valley resident whose two dogs didn’t always appreciate the piggy’s early-morning hellos. “We’d look out the window and realize it’s the pig again.”
There he was at the Snyders’ Agate Street property, saying good morning through the fence to Sheila, an Australian shepherd mix, and little Star, a Chihuahua mix that Mrs. Snyder and her husband, George, adopted from the county shelter roughly five years ago. The Snyders have lived in Jurupa Valley since 1976.
“As soon as they see the pig, they start barking,” she said. “He comes up to the fence to say hi, then sits down in front of them and then they stop barking.”
She contacted Riverside County Animal Services in early December when the pig showed up for another visit. But the pig eluded a responding officer and the visits continued. Finally, Mrs. Snyder’s husband captured the pig on Tuesday (Jan. 2) and animal control officer Michael Cox responded to pick up the pleasant porcine.
The 1-year-old, 120-pound piggy is now at the Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter awaiting his rightful owners to redeem him.
Mrs. Snyder said she feels bad that his owners just allow him to roam around and that she hopes that they fix their fence or, perhaps, someone else adopts him.
“He’s so pretty, so cute,” she said. “I don’t like him being mistreated like that.”
If the owners show up to claim the pig, an officer will do a yard check to make sure the property is secure for the pig to return home. If an owner does not redeem the pet, Riverside County Animal Services will work with one of its rescue partners to rehome the pig. In the past decade, the Southern California Association for Miniature Potbellied Pigs – or SCAMPP – has rescued dozens of stray pigs from Riverside County’s shelters.
