And this little piggy came home. Or in Bridgeport's case, a big, 50-pound piggy named Lolita.
A family on Forestview Road discovered the 5-month-old pot-bellied pig roaming in their yard on Saturday and called Animal Control, which has since found her a new home.
“Someone woke up and found a pig in their back yard and contacted us," Bridgeport Animal Control Officer Gina Gambino said in a statement, admitting she was initially in disbelief. “In all my years as an animal control officer, I never thought I would be picking up a pig in the middle of Bridgeport. But here she was, a big, a dark-colored pig in a little garden area.”
So she picked her up from the family and named her Cindy until she learned her name was really Lolita.
People responded to the photo of the pig posted on the Bridgeport animal shelter's Facebook page and many brought vegetables to feed the pig. Gambino also bought pig food from a farm.
While Gambino said getting a call about a roaming pig is rare, she said that it's not the first time it's happened in Connecticut. Stratford's animal control unit "corralled a pig on Interstate 95 recently, she said in a news release. So, she turned to them for advice.
"They knew exactly what to do," she said.
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Bridgeport staff put blankets on the floor for the pig to make her comfortable and kept her in her own wing of the kennel because loud noises can stress pigs out, according to Bridgeport officials.
In the event she couldn't find the owners, Gambino arranged for the state Department of Agriculture to raise her on one of its farms.
On Thursday, the pig's owners came forward, but decided to surrender her so she could live on a the Niantic farm where Gambino had worked out a home for her. Nonetheless, Gambino was thankful for the outpouring of generosity from the community.
“It was amazing when people came in with fresh vegetables for Lolita -- and she thoroughly enjoyed them,” Gambino said. “She will have a great new home. But we also have amazing dogs and cats who want forever homes as well, so please come down to the shelter.”
Now that Lolita has her new home, the shelter perhaps has another mission -- to find a home for a mixed-breed dog there named Miss Piggy.
