This Little Piggy Got Seized by Police

Ridley man is desperately trying to find his pet pot belly pig that police sent to a farm

A potbellied pet has been put out to pasture, much to the chagrin of its owner.

Brian Maguire told the Philadelphia Daily News he wants police to return the Vietnamese micro potbellied pig that was captured when it escaped from his suburban yard. But Ridley Township police told him that his 10-week-old pet, Steve, is at a farm because of a township ban on farm animals.

Maguire, a 24-year-old truck mechanic, said his domesticated pet can't forage for food. And he and his girlfriend challenge the police reading of the township pet law, which bans “farm animals other than customary pets.”

Maguire said he bought Steve at a pet shop for $424.

“George Clooney has one. Paris Hilton has one. A lot of people have them,” he said. “They are customary pets. It's not that crazy.”

After the 6-pound pig got out of Maguire's yard last week, he tried to track it down by calling the Delaware County SPCA.

“He doesn't really have a neck, so he never had tags,” Maguire told the newspaper.

The agency revealed that police had a pig in custody.

So Maguire and his girlfriend, Bernadette Broadhurst, headed to reclaim the animal. When told about the township ordinance, they offered to send Steve to a friend in a pig-friendly town.

No go: Police told them the animal already was at a farm near Reading.

“They said they had put the pig up for ‘adoption.’ You can't do that. That’s my pet! I have the paperwork,” Maguire said Wednesday. “They won't give me an address, phone number, the name of the farm, anything.”

McGuire had trained his cuddly pet to use a litter box, and even gave it little spa treatments, applying lotion on his dry skin. The new family member also enjoyed curling up with Hank, the couple's Labrador-hound mix.

“He just kind of does his own thing. Dogs bark at the mail man, but a pig just wouldn't even bother with him,” McGuire said.

Ridley police did not return calls from the newspaper this week. Township Commissioner Michael McCrea declined to comment out of concerns McGuire might sue.

In fact, barring any other ideas, McGuire said he had contacted a lawyer.

A friend, meanwhile, has begun printing “Where's Steve?” T-shirts, with proceeds going toward any legal fees McGuire assumes trying to find the pig.

More than 50 friends have offered to adopt the animal.

“I don't think I'm in the wrong,” Maguire said. “I just want my pet.”

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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