Pigs Causing a Stink in Paulsboro

Rising pig population in South Jersey town isn't flying with frustrated neighbors

Bambi bounces up and down, even wags her wiry tail, but Bambi is no ordinary family pet, she's a pig.

Bambi is one of 26 potbellied and standard body pigs owned by Florence Gruber. Most of them live in an RV parked in front of Gruber's Paulsboro, N.J.  home on Lincoln Avenue.

"They are the most wonderful pets on earth, they are the sweetest, they are so intelligent," Gruber told NBC10's Cydney Long.

But NBC10 found plenty of neighbors perturbed by the pigs.

Kathy Hunckler lives across the street from the Gruber home. "There's a lot of pigs, a lot of pigs, that's all I know and it's getting smelly out here," says Hunckler.

"They shouldn't be in a camper, I see them chasing each other, kicking at the doors," adds Robin Coughlin, another neighbor.

Gruber says her mini pigs are friendly but admits they do get loose from time to time.

Neighbors have called authorities to remove the pigs. Paulsboro Police tell NBC10 that Gloucester County Animal Control, the New Jersey  Department of Agriculture and the New Jersey Society for the Prevention and Cruelty to Animals are investigating, but so far say the animals are being treated humanely.

"I'm not breaking any laws," says Gruber. She added that because the pigs are miniature they actually qualify as pets or domesticated animals under Paulsboro's animal ordinance. Gruber says she has no plans to get rid of them.

Gruber will appear in municipal court on May 7 to fight to keep her pigs.


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